V2 Financial group LLC Sells 300 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

V2 Financial group LLC cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,678 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. V2 Financial group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired 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 Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 63.9% during the second 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 period. Fairman Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 85.1% in the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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, Citigroup increased 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:MO opened at $53.94 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $55.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.97.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.