TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 368 shares during the quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MO. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted 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. 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $50.15. 1,955,098 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,809,191. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $54.95. The stock has a market cap of $86.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.11.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. Altria Group’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.14%. The ex-dividend date 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 85.36%.

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.