Sanctuary Advisors LLC Purchases 144,737 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 37.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 530,784 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 144,737 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $27,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% during the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.00. 1,861,383 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,557,950. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $93.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.74.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 68.92%.

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.