Truist Financial Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Truist Financial Corp lessened its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,161,643 shares of the company’s stock after selling 106,833 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned 0.24% of Altria Group worth $189,563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Albion Financial Group UT grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% during the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after buying an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% during the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth $556,000. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $982,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $51.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.20. 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 quarterly earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.99%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.