Intellectus Partners LLC Acquires 577 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Intellectus Partners LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,840 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. Intellectus Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% during the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target 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 assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $55.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.13. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $56.32.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.29%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.