Federated Hermes Inc. Reduces Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,555 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,634 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. SP Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the second quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 8,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Certuity LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 13,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 9,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 14,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on MO shares. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $50.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $86.55 billion, a PE ratio of 10.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.77. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

About Altria Group

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.