Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Simmons Bank

Simmons Bank cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,427 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,888 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 2,762 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 616,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,100,000 after acquiring an additional 26,795 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 208.6% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 82,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,753,000 after acquiring an additional 55,700 shares during the last quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC now owns 7,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $147,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MO. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America increased their target price on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays upped their price target on Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.08.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $53.22. The stock had a trading volume of 6,133,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,396,477. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.20. The stock has a market cap of $91.41 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $53.53.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $1.02 dividend. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.67%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

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.