Atria Investments Inc Has $5.68 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Atria Investments Inc grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 111,281 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,887 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% during the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Fairman Group LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of MO opened at $53.94 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.90. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $55.05. The company has a market cap of $91.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 68.92%.

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.