Scotia Capital Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• Scotia Capital Inc. reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. by 13.2%, owning 77,317 shares after selling 11,718 during the first quarter, valued at approximately $4.64 million.
• Altria Group reported a quarterly EPS of $1.44, beating analyst expectations, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share, with a yield of 6.6%.
• Institutional investors currently own 57.41% of Altria Group's stock, with recent movements including GAMMA Investing LLC increasing their stake by 6,969.4% in the first quarter.

Scotia Capital Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 13.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 77,317 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,718 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of 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 boosted their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Two investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.13.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $64.12. The company had a trading volume of 2,961,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,160,052. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.86 and a 52-week high of $64.35. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $59.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.70. The company has a market capitalization of $107.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The business's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.92%.

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.