Grassi Investment Management Decreases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Grassi Investment Management lowered its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 92,786 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,400 shares during the quarter. Grassi Investment Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MO. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 133,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,789,000 after acquiring an additional 2,147 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 22.7% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 82,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,200,000 after acquiring an additional 15,213 shares during the period. X Square Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% in the third quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 18,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the period. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 100.0% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Detalus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth $222,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on MO shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America cut their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE MO opened at $49.75 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $85.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.95. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.20%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.36%.

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.