Mutual Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,118 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,786 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $27,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairman Group LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 85.1% in the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MO. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $49.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.81 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.23. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $54.95.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.17%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.36%.

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.