Summit Trail Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 16.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 87,386 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,054 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company's stock worth $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 6,969.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company's stock worth $129,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,813 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $91,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $59.62. 4,776,064 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,574,313. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.76 and a twelve month high of $61.26. The company has a market capitalization of $100.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.59. The business's 50-day moving average price is $59.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.43.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. Altria Group's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $57.71.

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.