Fortitude Family Office LLC Acquires 1,738 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,418 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,738 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in 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.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of MO opened at $50.25 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.17. The company has a market cap of $86.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $54.95.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.12%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.20.

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.