Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 18,873 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 18,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $963,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,603,000 after purchasing an additional 40,574 shares in the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 4.2% during the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,476,000 after purchasing an additional 10,079 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,330,000 after purchasing an additional 32,318 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company's stock worth $2,935,224,000 after buying an additional 589,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company's stock worth $100,511,000 after buying an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of MO traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $55.01. 6,275,769 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,590,340. The company has a market capitalization of $93.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.24, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.63. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The company's 50 day moving average is $53.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.71.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.42%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.33.

Altria Group 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.