Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Sells 620 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,284 shares of the company’s stock after selling 620 shares during the quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $66,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at $27,000. BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairman Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.20.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $50.49 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $51.34 and a 200 day moving average of $48.25. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $54.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.15 billion, a PE ratio of 8.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 8.08%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.34%.

About Altria Group

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.