Venturi Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 53.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,750 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,347 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 42.7% during the third quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 23,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,217,000 after acquiring an additional 7,142 shares during the last quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $426,000. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth $196,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% in the third 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 last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.9 %

MO stock opened at $54.44 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $55.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.97. The firm has a market cap of $92.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.20, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Company 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.