Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Position Lowered by Seneca House Advisors

Seneca House Advisors lessened its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 125,808 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,821 shares during the quarter. Altria Group makes up 2.7% of Seneca House Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Seneca House Advisors’ holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. First Citizens Financial Corp bought a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth $214,000. Private Client Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter valued at about $265,000. Dominguez Wealth Management Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $209,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 14.1% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 63,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after acquiring an additional 7,788 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE MO traded up $0.12 on Friday, reaching $50.10. The company had a trading volume of 7,410,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,159,582. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $54.95. The stock has a market cap of $86.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $51.59 and its 200-day moving average is $47.33.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business earned $1.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.14%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.