Annex Advisory Services LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Annex Advisory Services LLC lessened its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,783 shares of the company’s stock after selling 924 shares during the quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in Altria Group by 6.6% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 149,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,652,000 after purchasing an additional 9,345 shares in the last quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,446,000 after buying an additional 1,825 shares during the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 98,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,139,000 after acquiring an additional 5,165 shares in the last quarter. Next Level Private LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 7.2% in the third quarter. Next Level Private LLC now owns 36,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after acquiring an additional 2,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lifted its position in Altria Group by 14.2% in the third quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 10,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $49.84 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $85.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus 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.