Amalgamated Bank Decreases Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Amalgamated Bank lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO – Get Rating) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 467,915 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,893 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $21,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 542 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 118.8% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.68% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $44.76. The stock had a trading volume of 1,632,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,817,965. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.35 and a 12-month high of $54.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.85.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 22.44% and a negative return on equity of 245.43%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 120.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on Altria Group from $49.50 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.67.

About Altria Group

(Get Rating)

Altria Group, Inc operates as a holding company, which engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States. It operates through the following segments: Smokeable Products, Oral tobacco products, and Wine. The Smokeable Products segment consists of cigarettes manufactured and sold by PM USA and machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco manufactured and sold by Middleton.