DRW Securities LLC Increases Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

DRW Securities LLC boosted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1,634.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,937 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,537 shares during the quarter. DRW Securities LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $316,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its stake in Altria Group by 49.1% in the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% in the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. &PARTNERS purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $556,000. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $982,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.3 %

Altria Group stock opened at $51.02 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $54.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $51.33 and its 200 day moving average is $46.92. The company has a market capitalization of $87.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.00%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted 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. UBS Group increased 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. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.