Procyon Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Procyon Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,432 shares of the company’s stock after selling 433 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 154.4% in the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $49.91 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $85.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.44, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $54.95. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.68.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.17%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

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.