Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Has $332,000 Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 40.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,512 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,876 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Altria Group by 33.4% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America decreased their target price 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $53.54 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.70. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $55.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. Altria Group’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.62%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

Altria Group Company 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.