Caprock Group LLC Acquires 4,233 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,785 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,233 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,060,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $204,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 37,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,908,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.5% during the third quarter. First Western Trust Bank now owns 7,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ETF Store Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. ETF Store Inc. now owns 7,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MO. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $56.34 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $56.55. The stock has a market cap of $95.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.38.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. 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 yield of 7.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

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.