Blair William & Co. IL Raises Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 16.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 189,238 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,597 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Altria Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,701,000 after buying an additional 242,442 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789,788 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,510,000 after purchasing an additional 243,201 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Altria Group by 4.6% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,655,000 after purchasing an additional 215,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 1.5% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,772,000 after purchasing an additional 54,096 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $50.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $86.55 billion, a PE ratio of 10.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.77. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.10%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. 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. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.67.

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.