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

Centennial Bank AR cut its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,275 shares of the company’s stock after selling 439 shares during the period. Centennial Bank AR’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 953 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 120,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,844,000 after buying an additional 5,517 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 39.8% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 25,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,011,000 after acquiring an additional 7,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 137,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,536,000 after purchasing an additional 5,025 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $50.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $87.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.25. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its 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 analysts’ expectations 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 was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.36%.

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.