WP Advisors LLC Sells 1,972 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

WP Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 31,793 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,972 shares during the quarter. WP Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 85.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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 $55.93 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $56.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.59 and a 200-day moving average of $49.29.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.29%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

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.