Verus Capital Partners LLC Has $3.05 Million Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Verus Capital Partners LLC lowered its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 59,678 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,564 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 4,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 3.9% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 6,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. First National Trust Co increased its holdings in Altria Group by 0.9% in the third quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 130,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in Altria Group by 28.0% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 26,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,333,000 after buying an additional 5,719 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 49,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,523,000 after buying an additional 1,184 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $53.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.42 billion, a PE ratio of 9.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $55.05. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.50 and its 200 day moving average is $48.97.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.56%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.