M&T Bank Corp Sells 30,494 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

M&T Bank Corp reduced its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 566,786 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,494 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Altria Group were worth $34,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 226.3% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group raised Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.75.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO traded down $2.48 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $57.06. The stock had a trading volume of 10,529,402 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,162,364. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.54 and a 1 year high of $61.26. The stock has a market cap of $96.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

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.