Inscription Capital LLC Sells 1,891 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Inscription Capital LLC reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 10.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,683 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,891 shares during the quarter. Inscription Capital LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $50.00. The company had a trading volume of 652,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,802,932. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $51.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.11. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.16%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.