Main Street Financial Solutions LLC Sells 420 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,059 shares of the company’s stock after selling 420 shares during the quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 41.5% during the 1st 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 period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its stake 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 valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $3,866,000. Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $347,000. Finally, Resolute Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Resolute Advisors LLC now owns 11,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $503,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. Citigroup upped 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. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on 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 Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, 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 note 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:MO opened at $55.40 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $51.52 and its 200-day moving average is $49.09. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $55.62. The stock has a market cap of $93.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $1.02 per share. 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 7.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.