Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Trims Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 74,415 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,030 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 420.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Fairman Group LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $52.20 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $88.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $53.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.35.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.