Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,159,890 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 46,697 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.13% of Altria Group worth $107,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.4 %

MO stock traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $54.70. 6,721,871 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,565,865. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.71 billion, a PE ratio of 9.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.63. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $58.03. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.89.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Company 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.