Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Decreases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,435 shares of the company’s stock after selling 978 shares during the quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% in the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.2% in the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,476,000 after buying an additional 10,079 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 7.2% in the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS purchased a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $556,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MO. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America lifted 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned 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.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,410,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,159,582. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $51.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.33. The firm has a market cap of $86.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one 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 the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.14%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.