Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Richardson Financial Services Inc.

Richardson Financial Services Inc. trimmed its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,835 shares of the company’s stock after selling 349 shares during the quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MO. Albion Financial Group UT increased its stake in Altria Group by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% during 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 stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $556,000. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $982,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $50.55 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $51.15 and a 200-day moving average of $46.67. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.07%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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.