V Square Quantitative Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 34.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,451 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,238 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Delta Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 2.9% in the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 18.5% during the second quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 18,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 76,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,489,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SP Asset Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 8,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $49.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $51.54 and its 200 day moving average is $47.75. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

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.