CHICAGO TRUST Co NA Sells 1,268 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lowered its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 20.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,837 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,268 shares during the quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $75,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 17,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $49.84 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.19%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

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.