Cannell & Spears LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cannell & Spears LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 46.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,110 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,725 shares during the period. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 136.4% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,022,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,737,000 after buying an additional 1,166,701 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,317,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,481,000 after buying an additional 1,096,205 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $58.96 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.65 and a twelve month high of $60.18. The stock has a market cap of $99.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $55.38 and a 200 day moving average of $53.69.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. On average, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

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.