Powers Advisory Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Powers Advisory Group LLC cut its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,990 shares of the company’s stock after selling 943 shares during the quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 14,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 14,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $668,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 12.1% in the first quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 2,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.6% in the second quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 36,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,673,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GYL Financial Synergies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.4% during the second quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 7,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MO. Bank of America lifted their target price on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.08.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $52.44. The stock had a trading volume of 9,145,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,471,797. The company has a market cap of $90.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $52.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.97.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

About Altria Group

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.