Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Holdings Lessened by Valley National Advisers Inc.

Valley National Advisers Inc. lowered its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 45.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 60,886 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,989 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,106,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC now owns 31,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,630,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Altria Group by 7.9% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 388,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,861,000 after purchasing an additional 28,451 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 10.0% during the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 8.4% during the third quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 14,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 3,341.8% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 65,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,345,000 after purchasing an additional 63,628 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.20.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $49.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.42 and its 200-day moving average is $48.06. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business 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 is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.21%. 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.