Kowal Investment Group LLC Cuts Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Kowal Investment Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,040 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,347 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.20.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $50.15 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $51.57 and a 200-day moving average of $47.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.49, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $54.95.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.14%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.36%.

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.