First Hawaiian Bank Cuts Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

First Hawaiian Bank cut its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,607 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,109 shares during the quarter. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its position in Altria Group by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 5,418 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after acquiring an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 57,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,304,000 after acquiring an additional 11,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America upped their price target on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO traded up $0.64 on Tuesday, hitting $49.99. The company had a trading volume of 4,520,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,728,030. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $51.40. The stock has a market cap of $85.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $47.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.08.

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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

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.