J2 Capital Management Inc lowered its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO – Get Rating) by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,690 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,151 shares during the period. J2 Capital Management Inc's holdings in Altria Group were worth $238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Bromfield Sneider Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. DB Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 286.2% during the 1st quarter. DB Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 587 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Reitz Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Rinkey Investments acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 59.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MO. Barclays downgraded shares of Altria Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Altria Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Friday, June 24th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 19th. Finally, Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $47.00.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.3 %

Altria Group (NYSE:MO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 28th. The company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 6.88% and a negative return on equity of 488.86%. The firm had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 14th. This is an increase from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.10%. Altria Group's payout ratio is presently 387.63%.

Altria Group Company Profile

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Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company provides cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; cigars and pipe tobacco principally under the Black & Mild brand; and moist smokeless tobacco products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands, as well as provides on! oral nicotine pouches.

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