Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Increases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 151,772 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,179 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Certified Advisory Corp grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the third quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 24,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 52,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after acquiring an additional 972 shares during the period. Nwam LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 13,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925 shares during the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 39,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,023,000 after purchasing an additional 5,039 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 7.7% in the third quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $56.73 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $56.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.87 and its 200 day moving average is $49.69.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

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.