4,661 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Acquired by Balboa Wealth Partners

Balboa Wealth Partners purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.9% in 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 period. Scarborough Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 18.5% in the second 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. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.1% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on MO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $55.94 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.54 and a 200-day moving average of $49.13. The firm has a market cap of $94.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $56.32.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Altria Group Company 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.