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

Strategic Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,926 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,979 shares during the quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Albion Financial Group UT grew its position in Altria Group by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares in the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,476,000 after buying an additional 10,079 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. Finally, &PARTNERS acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at $556,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. 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. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.17.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded down $0.19 on Thursday, hitting $50.04. 5,009,872 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,074,367. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $51.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.47. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $54.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.53, a PEG 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. Research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.15%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

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.