Intellectus Partners LLC Raises Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Intellectus Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,840 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 577 shares during the quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $668,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 85.1% in the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut 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, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $55.94 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $56.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.13. The firm has a market cap of $94.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.29%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

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.