CENTRAL TRUST Co Has $6.71 Million Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

CENTRAL TRUST Co cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 111,862 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,105 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on MO. UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $58.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $58.81 and a 200-day moving average of $56.10. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.92 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.94%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Altria Group 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.