Ascent Group LLC Has $4.33 Million Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ascent Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,904 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,194 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup increased their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $57.74 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.16. The company has a market cap of $97.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.