Mattern Wealth Management LLC Sells 400 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Mattern Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,876 shares of the company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. RFP Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.2% in the third quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 6,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 35.3% in the third quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 2,468 shares during the period. Sweeney & Michel LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $213,000. Calton & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 6,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the period. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 14.6% during the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 10,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.20.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock traded up $0.68 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $49.74. 2,116,965 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,898,327. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.88. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $54.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.20%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.36%.

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.