Cornerstone Planning Group LLC Sells 1,906 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 61.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,220 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,906 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $61,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Altria Group by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $54.30 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $55.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.51 and a 200-day moving average of $49.05. The company has a market capitalization of $92.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly 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. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.51%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America cut their target price 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. Barclays upped 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

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.