Creative Planning Boosts Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 507,465 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,569 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $23,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 154.4% during the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note 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, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO opened at $51.04 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.20. The company has a market capitalization of $87.67 billion, a PE ratio of 10.68, a P/E/G 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.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change 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 7.99%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.36%.

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.