Abbrea Capital LLC Has $286,000 Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Abbrea Capital LLC cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,140 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% in the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $29,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $52.96 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.42.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.70%. 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 payout ratio is 82.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Company 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.