Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC Sells 993 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 17.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,579 shares of the company’s stock after selling 993 shares during the quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 420.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $58.97 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.65 and a 1 year high of $59.67. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.31. The company has a market cap of $99.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.00, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.92%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Altria Group Profile

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.