ORG Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

ORG Partners LLC cut its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 55.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,265 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,821 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $562,793,000 after acquiring an additional 191,236 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company's stock worth $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company's stock valued at $295,055,000 after buying an additional 1,299,703 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,510,000 after buying an additional 243,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its stake in Altria Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company's stock worth $222,655,000 after buying an additional 215,594 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Monday, hitting $49.88. 5,693,974 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,043,686. The firm's fifty day moving average is $51.56 and its 200-day moving average is $47.63. The stock has a market cap of $85.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.44, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.18%. This is a positive change from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.36%.

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.