M&T Bank Corp Sells 62,593 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

M&T Bank Corp reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 602,738 shares of the company’s stock after selling 62,593 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $30,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after purchasing an additional 589,832 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,793,000 after purchasing an additional 191,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $53.84 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $91.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.09, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $54.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.12.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released 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 negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.58%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.33.

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.