Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC Has $684,000 Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,401 shares of the company’s stock after selling 296 shares during the period. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% during the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2 %

MO traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $50.10. The stock had a trading volume of 7,410,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,159,582. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.33. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $54.95. The firm has a market cap of $86.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.14%. Altria Group’s payout ratio 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.