Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Has $583,000 Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,421 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 999 shares during the quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $543,000. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 12.9% during the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Salley Wealth Management bought a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $263,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $53.87 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.42 and a 200-day moving average of $48.49. The company has a market capitalization of $91.91 billion, a P/E 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 released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.17.

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.