Vista Investment Partners LLC Sells 340 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Vista Investment Partners LLC trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,746 shares of the company’s stock after selling 340 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MO. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 6.1% in the third quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 588 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 112,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,729,000 after buying an additional 9,049 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 84,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,320,000 after buying an additional 3,220 shares during the period. Finally, FLC Capital Advisors grew its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 14,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $735,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.20.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.9 %

MO stock opened at $49.72 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $54.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.71. The firm has a market cap of $85.40 billion, a PE ratio of 10.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.21%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.