LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Sells 3,591 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 89,414 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,591 shares during the quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter worth $34,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.33.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:MO traded down $0.62 on Friday, hitting $50.87. The company had a trading volume of 6,182,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,839,537. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.59, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $54.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.73.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. Altria Group’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.02%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.