Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Has $1.81 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,425 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,941 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Altria Group by 33.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $54.44 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $92.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $55.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.97.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Company 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.