Cadence Bank Has $889,000 Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cadence Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,374 shares of the company’s stock after selling 867 shares during the period. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $889,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,209,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,778,000 after purchasing an additional 10,858 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 125.2% in the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 8,583 shares during the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Smith Anglin Financial LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 7,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 832 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 14,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,000 after buying an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.10.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $50.43. 6,967,303 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,724,491. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.61. The company has a market cap of $86.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $50.47.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.77%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

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.