Newport Trust Company LLC Sells 4,561 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Newport Trust Company LLC lessened its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 159,780 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,561 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 154.4% in the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MO. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $50.23 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.69. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $54.95. The company has a market cap of $86.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

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.