B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Has $3.34 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 23.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 64,595 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,763 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,060,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.9% in the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 18.5% in the second quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in Altria Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $54.92 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $53.60 and a 200-day moving average of $50.85. The stock has a market cap of $93.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.63.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.43%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.33.

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.