U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 273,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,097 shares during the quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $13,934,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Delta Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.9% during the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 18,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 76,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,489,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SP Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the second quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 8,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MO traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $49.79. 1,573,720 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,877,086. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $54.95. The stock has a market cap of $85.52 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.94.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.19%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America reduced their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.20.

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.