Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Has $2.24 Million Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 49,145 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,701,000 after purchasing an additional 242,442 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after buying an additional 4,789,788 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,681,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,870,000 after buying an additional 617,900 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,772,000 after buying an additional 54,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,225,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,110,000 after buying an additional 64,062 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $53.77. 8,010,061 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,355,649. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $49.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.50. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $53.82.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. Altria Group’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MO. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.08.

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.