Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Fort L.P.

Fort L.P. lowered its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,624 shares of the company’s stock after selling 266 shares during the period. Fort L.P.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MO. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded down $0.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $53.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,986,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,304,533. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.43. The company has a market capitalization of $91.91 billion, a PE ratio of 9.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.17.

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.