Heritage Investors Management Corp Decreases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Heritage Investors Management Corp lowered its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 31.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,789 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,799 shares during the quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp's holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,490,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the 2nd 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. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Altria Group by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,047 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their price objective 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. Bank of America reduced 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, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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 MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2 %

MO stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.28. The stock had a trading volume of 8,942,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,561,073. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $55.05. The company's 50 day moving average is $51.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.70. The company has a market capitalization of $91.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group's revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.