Daymark Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 1,598 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,592 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,598 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 154.4% in the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at $27,000. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $51.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $87.74 billion, a PE ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $54.95. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.01.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released 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). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. Equities research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.99%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MO. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.67.

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.