Picton Mahoney Asset Management Sells 8,060 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Picton Mahoney Asset Management lessened its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 36.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,306 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,060 shares during the quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 62.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $954,446,000 after purchasing an additional 6,302,819 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,364,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,923 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1,094.0% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,158,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061,413 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Altria Group by 1.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,367,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,315,438,000 after buying an additional 886,583 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 7.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,073,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $797,587,000 after buying an additional 814,665 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MO. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $66.48 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $63.25 and a 200-day moving average of $62.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.82 and a fifty-two week high of $70.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.18, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.16%.

About Altria Group

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.