Financial Partners Group LLC Sells 1,958 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Financial Partners Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,397 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,958 shares during the quarter. Altria Group accounts for 1.0% of Financial Partners Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Financial Partners Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Busey Bank raised its stake in Altria Group by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Busey Bank now owns 179,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 12,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter valued at about $839,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 14.1% in the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 147,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,518,000 after buying an additional 18,185 shares during the period. Finally, Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $106,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays upped 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target 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. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $49.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $85.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.61, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for 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%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.17%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 70.34%.

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.