5,110 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Purchased by Evernest Financial Advisors LLC

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America cut their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup increased 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 boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.20.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $49.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.88. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $54.95. The company has a market cap of $84.28 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, equities 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 was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.31%. 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 payout ratio is 85.36%.

Altria Group Company 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.