Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC trimmed its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,193 shares of the company’s stock after selling 750 shares during the quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in the second quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 8,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Certuity LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 13,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Conning Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.3% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 9,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $50.23 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $51.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.28 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. 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). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. Analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.