Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. cut its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,715 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,506 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 43,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,997,000 after acquiring an additional 2,308 shares in the last quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 24.7% in the second quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 12,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 387.9% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 350,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,956,000 after purchasing an additional 278,500 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in Altria Group by 57.5% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 21,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,000 after buying an additional 7,983 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 54,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,492,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MO. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $51.70 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $54.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $51.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted 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). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.89%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio 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.