Verus Capital Partners LLC Sells 2,564 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Verus Capital Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,678 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,564 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in Altria Group by 33.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $53.94 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $55.05.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.92%.

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.