Colonial River Investments LLC Sells 11,234 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Colonial River Investments LLC lowered its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,769 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,234 shares during the quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $54.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.81. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $55.05.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.55%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

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.