Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC Sells 768 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC cut its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 71,404 shares of the company’s stock after selling 768 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 415.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,935,000 after acquiring an additional 793,327 shares during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $27,613,000. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 182,943.7% in the second quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,930,000 after purchasing an additional 568,955 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $49.55 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.57 and a 200-day moving average of $47.40. The company has a market capitalization of $85.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results 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). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.23%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. 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 report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.17.

About Altria Group

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.