Smithfield Trust Co Increases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Smithfield Trust Co boosted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 56.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,005 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,895 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $44,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $56.06 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.79 and a 200-day moving average of $49.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $56.55. The company has a market capitalization of $95.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced 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 firm 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%. The company’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted 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, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock 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 issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

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.