First City Capital Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

First City Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,408 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,578 shares during the quarter. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Altria Group by 120.6% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association grew its position in Altria Group by 103.9% in the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,742,000 after acquiring an additional 919,058 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 131.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,418,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,211,000 after purchasing an additional 805,051 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 415.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,935,000 after purchasing an additional 793,327 shares during the period. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,613,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on MO shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Barclays upped 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. UBS Group lifted 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. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $50.39 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $54.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.81.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change 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%. 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.