Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Has $28.83 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 10.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 555,228 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 54,610 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $28,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Albion Financial Group UT grew its position in Altria Group by 49.1% in the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company's stock worth $44,960,000 after acquiring an additional 16,541 shares in the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 10,079 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America cut their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $49.96. The stock had a trading volume of 8,011,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,821,446. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.17. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.81 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. Altria Group's quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.17%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.