Beacon Financial Advisory LLC Reduces Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Beacon Financial Advisory LLC decreased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,102 shares of the company’s stock after selling 980 shares during the quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Delta Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in Altria Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 1.1% during the third quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 18,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management grew its position in Altria Group by 0.3% in the second quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 76,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,489,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.17.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $54.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $51.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.