Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by Aviance Capital Partners LLC

Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,362 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 191 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% in 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 period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,476,000 after purchasing an additional 10,079 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,330,000 after purchasing an additional 32,318 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 729.8% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,511,000 after buying an additional 1,731,932 shares during the period. Finally, White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at about $483,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MO. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup increased their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of MO opened at $56.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $95.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.63 and its 200-day moving average is $49.38. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $56.55.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

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.