Farmers Trust Co. Purchases 296 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Farmers Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,730 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 296 shares during the quarter. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Albion Financial Group UT grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,476,000 after purchasing an additional 10,079 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $556,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MO. UBS Group increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $49.98 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.29. The company has a market cap of $85.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict 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 an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.16%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 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.