Intech Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Intech Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 476,248 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,352 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $24,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after buying an additional 40,574 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,476,000 after acquiring an additional 10,079 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,330,000 after purchasing an additional 32,318 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $483,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MO. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted 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. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of 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 issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $55.98 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.72 and a 200 day moving average of $49.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $56.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

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.