Applied Capital LLC FL Decreases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Applied Capital LLC FL lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,147 shares of the company’s stock after selling 223 shares during the period. Applied Capital LLC FL’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 18.5% during the third quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 14,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 2,249 shares during the period. Lynch & Associates IN raised its position in Altria Group by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lynch & Associates IN now owns 29,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,506,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 18,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 531,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,128,000 after acquiring an additional 24,039 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO opened at $49.91 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.68. The company has a market capitalization of $85.73 billion, a PE ratio of 10.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $54.95.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.17%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.