Mizuho Securities USA LLC Decreases Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 16.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,640 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,797 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% during the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 33.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.0 %

Altria Group stock traded up $0.54 on Friday, hitting $55.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,201,730 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,890,591. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.26. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $56.32. The firm has a market cap of $94.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.29%. Altria Group's payout ratio is 68.92%.

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.