Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank lowered its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 346,986 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,020 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $15,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 154.4% during the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MO shares. 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 report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective 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 shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE MO opened at $50.55 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $51.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.67. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $54.95. The company has a market capitalization of $86.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 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 analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.