Cedar Wealth Management LLC Sells 12,587 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cedar Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 8.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 131,259 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,587 shares during the period. Altria Group accounts for 2.1% of Cedar Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Cedar Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. Citigroup upped their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MO traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.98. The company had a trading volume of 5,715,649 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,743,754. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.47. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $56.55. The stock has a market cap of $94.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64.

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, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 7.29%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.92%.

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.