1834 Investment Advisors Co. Sells 13,364 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

1834 Investment Advisors Co. cut its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 169,437 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,364 shares during the period. Altria Group comprises approximately 1.0% of 1834 Investment Advisors Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. 1834 Investment Advisors Co.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after acquiring an additional 40,574 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 4.2% during the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,476,000 after purchasing an additional 10,079 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.3% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,330,000 after purchasing an additional 32,318 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% in the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 14,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $54.18 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.53%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on MO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group upped 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, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.17.

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.