Vantage Financial Partners LLC Sells 401 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Vantage Financial Partners LLC lowered its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,530 shares of the company’s stock after selling 401 shares during the quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Albion Financial Group UT increased its position in Altria Group by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at $556,000. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $982,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays upped their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $54.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $50.31 and a 200 day moving average of $46.15.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.52%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

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.