Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Position Reduced by NorthRock Partners LLC

NorthRock Partners LLC lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 95,985 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,509 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,793,000 after buying an additional 191,236 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 25.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,510,000 after purchasing an additional 243,201 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,655,000 after purchasing an additional 215,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,916,000 after purchasing an additional 670,858 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $53.82. The company had a trading volume of 286,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,852,436. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $54.95. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.57. The stock has a market cap of $91.83 billion, a PE ratio of 9.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.58%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MO. Citigroup raised their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America decreased their target price 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 lifted their price target 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, StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.17.

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.