Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Ingalls & Snyder LLC

Ingalls & Snyder LLC lessened its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,716 shares of the company’s stock after selling 515 shares during the quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $3,945,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 447,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,050,000 after buying an additional 44,639 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 12,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 50,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,052,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 57.0% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 20,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $843,000 after buying an additional 7,590 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MO. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.08.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Altria Group stock traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $53.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,010,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,355,649. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $49.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.50. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $53.82. The company has a market capitalization of $92.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.59%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.36%.

About Altria Group

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.