Fortis Group Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Fortis Group Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 35.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,456 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,468 shares during the quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delta Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 18.5% during the second quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 18,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 76,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,489,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. Finally, SP Asset Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 8,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. 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 note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.20.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $49.53. 795,893 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,891,851. The stock has a market cap of $85.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27, a PEG ratio of 2.90 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’s 50-day moving average price is $51.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.88.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.24%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.36%.

About Altria Group

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.