Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC Sells 375 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,869 shares of the company’s stock after selling 375 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $606,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter worth $44,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of 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 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $56.34 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.63 and a 200-day moving average of $49.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $56.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 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 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

About Altria Group

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.