JB Capital LLC Sells 410 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

JB Capital LLC decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,013 shares of the company’s stock after selling 410 shares during the quarter. JB Capital LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased 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 period. Fairman Group LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reduced their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $53.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $90.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.04, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $55.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.70.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.62%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.92%.

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.