Mizuho Securities USA LLC Has $5.65 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 16.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm 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 filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,603,000 after buying an additional 40,574 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,476,000 after purchasing an additional 10,079 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,330,000 after purchasing an additional 32,318 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $483,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on 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 lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $55.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $94.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $56.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.26.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.29%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

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.