Associated Banc Corp Cuts Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Associated Banc Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,592 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,243 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 63.9% during 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 last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $56.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.81. The company has a market capitalization of $96.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.59, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $57.20.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MO. Barclays increased their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.