Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,608 shares of the company’s stock after selling 360 shares during the quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Altria Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,701,000 after purchasing an additional 242,442 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Altria Group by 120.6% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,201,000 after buying an additional 4,789,788 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in Altria Group by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,681,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,870,000 after buying an additional 617,900 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,674,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,567,000 after buying an additional 915,478 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,772,000 after acquiring an additional 54,096 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MO. Barclays boosted 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. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two investment 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 an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.08.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO traded up $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $51.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,999,730 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,607,006. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $51.40. The company has a market cap of $87.93 billion, a PE ratio of 10.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.55.

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). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.66%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

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.