Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires 250 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,823 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 154.4% during the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MO. Citigroup increased their price objective 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of MO opened at $49.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $51.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.18%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.36%.

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.