Patten & Patten Inc. TN Sells 250 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,297 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 33.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of MO stock 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.90. The firm has a market cap of $91.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. 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%. 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.