Financial Advocates Investment Management Acquires New Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Financial Advocates Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth $543,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 132.4% in the 1st quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 21,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $958,000 after purchasing an additional 12,507 shares in the last quarter. Callan Capital LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 7,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 1,748 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 83.6% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 2,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $11,438,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:MO opened at $53.88 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $54.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.57.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.57%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup upped their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.17.

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.