Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Buys 50,275 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 48.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 154,767 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 50,275 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $50.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $51.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.67. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week 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 the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.07%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.