Evermay Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Evermay Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,517 shares of the company’s stock after selling 362 shares during the period. Evermay Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $79,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,772,000 after purchasing an additional 54,096 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.3% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,824,000 after buying an additional 2,471 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 56.3% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 32,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,426,000 after buying an additional 11,779 shares in the last quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 6.9% in the first quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $467,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everett Harris & Co. CA raised its holdings in Altria Group by 6.1% in the first quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 16,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $733,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $50.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.71, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $54.95. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.25.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Altria Group Company 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.