Hilltop National Bank Trims Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Hilltop National Bank trimmed its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,647 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. Hilltop National Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after purchasing an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after buying an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,793,000 after buying an additional 191,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $51.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,211,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,507,300. The company has a market cap of $87.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.73.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.94%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.33.

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.