Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

by · The Markets Daily

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO – Free Report) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,308 shares of the company’s stock after selling 681 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 825 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS acquired a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $556,000. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 104.2% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $592,000 after buying an additional 6,925 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $144,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $49.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.79.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO – Get Free Report) last announced its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.22%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price 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. Two equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on MO

Altria Group Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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