Cornerstone Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• Cornerstone Advisors LLC significantly reduced its stake in Altria Group, decreasing holdings by 49.3% to 42,100 shares valued at approximately $2.53 million.
• Altria Group reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.44, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.37, with revenues of $5.29 billion for the quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $4.08 and a yield of 6.5%.

Cornerstone Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 49.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,100 shares of the company's stock after selling 41,000 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter worth $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC grew 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 last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.13.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $64.21. The stock had a trading volume of 5,433,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,586,698. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.78. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.86 and a 12-month high of $64.35. The firm has a market cap of $107.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. 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.