First City Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

First City Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 28,547 shares of the company’s stock after selling 861 shares during the period. Altria Group makes up about 0.7% of First City Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,793,000 after acquiring an additional 191,236 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 25.0% in the 2nd 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. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,510,000 after acquiring an additional 243,201 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Altria Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,655,000 after acquiring an additional 215,594 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in Altria Group by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,916,000 after acquiring an additional 670,858 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:MO opened at $56.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.38. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $56.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.24%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

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.