Pure Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 9,155 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 122.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,652 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,155 shares during the quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $27,000. BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairman Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% in the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.17.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $53.87 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.91 billion, a PE ratio of 9.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.49. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.