King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 774 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

King Luther Capital Management Corp decreased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,146 shares of the company’s stock after selling 774 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the second quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 76,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,489,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 21.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 65,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,000 after purchasing an additional 11,421 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 47,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,160,000 after buying an additional 2,848 shares during the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 34,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,576,000 after buying an additional 2,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.1% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 65,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,995,000 after acquiring an additional 4,364 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $50.39 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.27 and a 200 day moving average of $46.85. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $54.95. The stock has a market cap of $86.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. 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 yield of 8.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MO. Bank of America increased their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.67.

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.