Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 1,003 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,444 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 18.5% during the second quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 18,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MO. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $55.40 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $55.62. The company has a market cap of $93.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.32, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.09.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.36%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 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.