Montag A & Associates Inc. Sells 1,069 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Montag A & Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 11.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,551 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,069 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after buying an additional 16,541 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 57,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,304,000 after buying an additional 11,111 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. Finally, &PARTNERS purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $556,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $53.77 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $49.35 and its 200 day moving average is $45.57. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $53.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its 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 business 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 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.59%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.08.

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.