Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC

Key Points

• Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC reduced its stake in Altria Group by 12.8%, selling 19,198 shares and now holding 130,957 shares valued at $7.86 million.
• Several large investors have made significant changes to their holdings in Altria, with Sierra Ocean LLC increasing its stake by 226.3% during the first quarter.
• Altria Group reported a Q2 EPS of $1.44, surpassing expectations, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $1.02, resulting in a yield of 6.4%.

Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 130,957 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,198 shares during the quarter. Altria Group makes up approximately 1.9% of Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 88.5% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company's stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 4,007 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,440 shares during the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 12.2% in the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 12,217 shares of the company's stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,091,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.13.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $65.58. 10,747,348 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,162,725. The firm has a market cap of $110.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.86 and a 52-week high of $66.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.08.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. Altria Group's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 78.92%.

Altria Group 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.