Arkadios Wealth Advisors Grows Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,176 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Altria Group stock traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $49.71. 5,325,545 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,847,107. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.02. The company has a market capitalization of $84.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.21%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays increased 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. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

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.