Patron Partners LLC Trims Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Patron Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 26.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,063 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,905 shares during the quarter. Patron Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,701,000 after purchasing an additional 242,442 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,510,000 after acquiring an additional 243,201 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,772,000 after buying an additional 54,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.9% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 2,111,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,221,000 after purchasing an additional 80,215 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $53.69. 8,207,736 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,317,011. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $54.95. The firm has a market cap of $92.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $50.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.98.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. 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 7.60%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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, August 1st. Two research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

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.