AlphaCore Capital LLC Acquires New Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO opened at $56.06 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.00 billion, a PE ratio of 9.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $56.55.

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 net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America reduced 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. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

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.