Kowal Investment Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Kowal Investment Group LLC reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 22.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,387 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,962 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,701,000 after purchasing an additional 242,442 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,201,000 after buying an additional 4,789,788 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,510,000 after acquiring an additional 243,201 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in Altria Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,655,000 after acquiring an additional 215,594 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.5% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,772,000 after acquiring an additional 54,096 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective 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. Bank of America upped their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two investment 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 company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $50.39 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.81. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95. The company has a market capitalization of $86.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is an increase 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.