Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Holdings Decreased by TCTC Holdings LLC

TCTC Holdings LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 356,136 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,656 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $18,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $54.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $91.60 billion, a PE ratio of 9.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.50 and a 200-day moving average of $48.81. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $55.05.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research 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 announced 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 7.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.