Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 48.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 89,761 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 29,421 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB's holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 40,574 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 4.2% in 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 period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.3% in the 3rd 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $2,935,224,000 after acquiring an additional 589,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,731,932 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock traded down $0.13 on Friday, hitting $54.86. The stock had a trading volume of 2,262,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,559,250. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.63. The company's 50 day moving average price is $53.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.74.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.44%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

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.