Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Towerpoint Wealth LLC

Towerpoint Wealth LLC lessened its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,613 shares of the company’s stock after selling 463 shares during the quarter. Towerpoint Wealth LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.3% in the third quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 44,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after buying an additional 971 shares during the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $350,000. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $707,000 after acquiring an additional 3,723 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 7,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910 shares during the period. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MO. Citigroup upped their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.17.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $49.88. 744,150 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,045,617. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.49. The firm has a market cap of $85.68 billion, a PE ratio of 10.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its 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). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.18%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio 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.