Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Acquires 311 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,875 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 63.9% during the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Fairman Group LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 85.1% during the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $49.71 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $54.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.06. The firm has a market cap of $84.82 billion, a PE ratio of 8.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.21%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

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.