Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Holdings Reduced by WCG Wealth Advisors LLC

WCG Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 154.4% in the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $50.23 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $54.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.28 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.69.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MO. Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America upped their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.67.

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.