Toronto Dominion Bank Grows Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 927,433 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 216,863 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned about 0.05% of Altria Group worth $47,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company's stock worth $15,603,000 after buying an additional 40,574 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 4.2% in the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,476,000 after acquiring an additional 10,079 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 2.3% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company's stock worth $74,330,000 after purchasing an additional 32,318 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after purchasing an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.6 %

MO traded up $0.32 on Thursday, hitting $55.01. 6,275,769 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,590,340. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $53.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.71. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The firm has a market cap of $93.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.63.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of 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 research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.