Forum Financial Management LP Increases Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,097 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,730 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter worth $543,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 132.4% in the first quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 21,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $958,000 after buying an additional 12,507 shares during the period. Callan Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 33.3% in the first quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 7,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 1,748 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 83.6% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 2,136 shares during the period. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $11,438,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.0 %

Altria Group stock opened at $53.88 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $54.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.57. The stock has a market cap of $91.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. 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 note on Friday. Bank of America lowered their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.17.

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.