Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank cut its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 346,986 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,020 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $15,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in 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 last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 399 shares during the period. &PARTNERS purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth approximately $556,000. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $982,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $50.55 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $54.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.67.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.07%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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 given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.67.

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.