KPP Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

KPP Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,911 shares of the company’s stock after selling 207 shares during the quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 41.5% during the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 8,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,492 shares during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Altria Group by 30.2% in the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 2,133 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth $3,866,000. TIAA Trust National Association increased its position in Altria Group by 4.4% during the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 59,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,592,000 after acquiring an additional 2,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 14,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $55.93. 8,201,730 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,779,230. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $51.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.22. The company has a market capitalization of $94.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 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 $56.32.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 68.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

About Altria Group

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.