Valley National Advisers Inc. Sells 50,989 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Valley National Advisers Inc. cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,886 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,989 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Delta Investment Management LLC lifted 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 period. Scarborough Advisors LLC grew 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 buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings 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 valued at $3,489,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $49.71 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $51.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.06. The stock has a market cap of $85.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.21%. 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 (DPR) is 85.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup raised 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. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.20.

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.