Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stake Lowered by LRI Investments LLC

LRI Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,698 shares of the company’s stock after selling 884 shares during the quarter. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EWA LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $242,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 706,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,084,000 after buying an additional 54,102 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 362,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,522,000 after buying an additional 15,991 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Northeast Financial Consultants Inc grew its holdings in Altria Group by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 36,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,852,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $55.86 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.23 and a 200-day moving average of $50.61. The company has a market capitalization of $94.67 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.63.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.