First Hawaiian Bank Reduces Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

First Hawaiian Bank reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,716 shares of the company’s stock after selling 759 shares during the quarter. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $44.80 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $76.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $44.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.54. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $47.19.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.