Sandy Spring Bank Sells 222 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sandy Spring Bank lowered its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,250 shares of the company’s stock after selling 222 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth $32,206,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $58.09 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.65 and a 52-week high of $59.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $54.29 and its 200-day moving average is $53.45. The firm has a market cap of $98.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

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.