Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Position Cut by XML Financial LLC

XML Financial LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 27,297 shares of the company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% in the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc bought a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. BNP Paribas bought a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO traded up $1.00 on Thursday, hitting $50.01. 9,915,994 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,732,118. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $50.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $46.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.86.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its 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). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.84%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.90.

Altria Group 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.