Calton & Associates Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Calton & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2,855.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 167,431 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 161,765 shares during the period. Altria Group accounts for 1.4% of Calton & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Calton & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,603,000 after buying an additional 40,574 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT increased its stake in Altria Group by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after buying an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.2% in the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,476,000 after buying an additional 10,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% during the first 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 last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.3 %

MO opened at $49.61 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.54 and a 200 day moving average of $47.83. 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 $85.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.22%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays boosted 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, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.20.

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.