Johnson Financial Group Inc. Has $10.91 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Johnson Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 162,571 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,885 shares during the quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $10,910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 335,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,158,000 after buying an additional 26,624 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,522,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,677,000 after purchasing an additional 44,303 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,073,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $797,587,000 after acquiring an additional 814,665 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,364,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,923 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its position in Altria Group by 155.4% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 31,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,062,000 after acquiring an additional 18,997 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.11.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $67.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $64.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.63. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.82 and a 12-month high of $70.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $1,885,743.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 180,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,221,318.33. The trade was a 13.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.