ICA Group Wealth Management LLC Sells 13,313 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

ICA Group Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 70.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,480 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,313 shares during the quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 103.9% in 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 during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 131.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,418,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,211,000 after acquiring an additional 805,051 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 415.4% during the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 56.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,059,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,065,000 after acquiring an additional 742,896 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $52.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $50.89 and a 200 day moving average of $46.46. The company has a market cap of $90.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $54.95.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.70%. 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 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report 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, Bank of America increased their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.67.

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.