M&T Bank Corp Has $30.76 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

M&T Bank Corp cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 602,738 shares of the company’s stock after selling 62,593 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $30,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,060,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Delta Investment Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP boosted its position in Altria Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.33.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.6 %

MO opened at $53.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $91.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.09, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.63. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $54.00 and a 200-day moving average of $51.12.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.58%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

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.