Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by Sittner & Nelson LLC

Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 240.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,665 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Sittner & Nelson LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $543,000. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 42,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,844,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 170.4% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 101,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,409,000 after purchasing an additional 63,701 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 40,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 6,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8.4% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 207,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,034,000 after buying an additional 16,008 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE MO opened at $53.54 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $55.05. The stock has a market cap of $90.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.49 and a 200-day moving average of $48.70.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company 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 firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.62%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

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.