Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Sells 2,318 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,817 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,318 shares during the period. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings in Altria Group were worth $246,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Albion Financial Group UT increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 40,574 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.2% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $49.84 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.59. The company has a market cap of $85.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

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.