Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,441 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,366 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew 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 valued at $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association increased its position in Altria Group by 103.9% during the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,742,000 after buying an additional 919,058 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 131.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,418,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,211,000 after acquiring an additional 805,051 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 415.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,935,000 after acquiring an additional 793,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at $27,613,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $50.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

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.