HTLF Bank Decreases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

HTLF Bank decreased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,533 shares of the company’s stock after selling 647 shares during the period. HTLF Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% in the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after purchasing an additional 40,574 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares in the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,476,000 after buying an additional 10,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% during the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $49.91 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $54.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.73 billion, a PE ratio of 10.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.17%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

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.