Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by United Services Automobile Association

United Services Automobile Association lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,774,668 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,150 shares during the quarter. Altria Group comprises approximately 2.0% of United Services Automobile Association’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. United Services Automobile Association owned approximately 0.10% of Altria Group worth $80,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Altria Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,701,000 after purchasing an additional 242,442 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789,788 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,510,000 after acquiring an additional 243,201 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,655,000 after acquiring an additional 215,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,772,000 after purchasing an additional 54,096 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MO opened at $53.86 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $91.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.06. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted 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 company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.58%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MO. Bank of America raised their price objective 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 boosted their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

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.