Mizuho Securities USA LLC Has $8.15 Million Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• Mizuho Securities USA LLC reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. by 15.5%, holding 135,703 shares worth approximately $8.14 million after selling 24,927 shares during the 1st quarter.
• Altria Group reported a quarterly earnings of $1.44 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, and its revenue reached $5.29 billion, showing a 0.2% year-over-year increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.02, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 6.4%, with a payout ratio of 78.92%.

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lessened its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 15.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 135,703 shares of the company's stock after selling 24,927 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter worth $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 226.3% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.13.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $1.52 on Monday, hitting $65.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,644,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,386,891. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.86 and a 12 month high of $65.95. The company has a market capitalization of $110.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's 50-day moving average is $59.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.97.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.92%.

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.