Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Holdings Lessened by KCM Investment Advisors LLC

KCM Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,245 shares of the company’s stock after selling 704 shares during the quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.8% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 54,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,796,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 0.9% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 83,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,271,000 after buying an additional 776 shares during the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter worth approximately $205,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Altria Group by 7.1% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 292,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,928,000 after buying an additional 19,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 4.7% in the third quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 12,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $668,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $55.94 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $56.32. The business’s 50 day moving average is $51.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.22. The company has a market cap of $94.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.29%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Company 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.