Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by WCG Wealth Advisors LLC

WCG Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,491 shares of the company’s stock after selling 411 shares during the quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,701,000 after acquiring an additional 242,442 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after buying an additional 4,789,788 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,510,000 after buying an additional 243,201 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,655,000 after buying an additional 215,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,772,000 after buying an additional 54,096 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $50.23 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $51.22 and its 200-day moving average is $46.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.28 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly 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). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.12%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.67.

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.