First Financial Bank Trust Division Sells 528 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

First Financial Bank Trust Division trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,789 shares of the company’s stock after selling 528 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Albion Financial Group UT grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% in the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 5,418 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after buying an additional 16,541 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 57,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 11,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 7.2% in the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 3.4 %

Altria Group stock traded down $1.72 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $49.35. 14,332,518 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,769,650. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $51.40. The company has a market cap of $84.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $47.07 and a 200-day moving average of $44.02.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.94%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America boosted their price target on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.90.

Altria Group Company 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.