Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by Captrust Financial Advisors

Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 561,416 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 18,745 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings in Altria Group were worth $28,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% during the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 85.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.74. The company had a trading volume of 3,635,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,675,372. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.13.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.33.

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.