Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Grows Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,456,308 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 32,318 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Altria Group worth $74,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company's stock worth $562,793,000 after purchasing an additional 191,236 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $382,201,000 after buying an additional 4,789,788 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company's stock valued at $295,055,000 after buying an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company's stock worth $230,510,000 after buying an additional 243,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company's stock worth $222,655,000 after acquiring an additional 215,594 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.3 %

MO traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $49.61. 7,148,405 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,961,041. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $51.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 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 analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.22%. Altria Group's payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price 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 increased their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $48.20.

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.