Huntington National Bank Has $7.67 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Huntington National Bank reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 146,748 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,870 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its stake in Altria Group by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 5,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 4,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MO. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $57.21 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.73, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.72. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.65 and a 1 year high of $60.18.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

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.