ETF Store Inc. Purchases 331 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

ETF Store Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,642 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. ETF Store Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in Altria Group by 66.2% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 46,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,021,000 after buying an additional 18,450 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Altria Group by 33.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department raised its stake in Altria Group by 4.6% in the first quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 6,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Rockport Wealth LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $215,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 45.5% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 65,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,854,000 after buying an additional 20,438 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:MO opened at $55.93 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $51.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.29. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $56.32. The stock has a market cap of $94.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a PEG ratio of 3.18 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.29%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

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.