D Orazio & Associates Inc. Buys 3,945 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,299 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,945 shares during the quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $606,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 12,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. raised its stake in Altria Group by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 13,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $547,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective 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 lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.7 %

MO opened at $53.15 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $50.62 and a 200 day moving average of $46.29. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $54.95. The stock has a market cap of $91.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.12, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. 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 yield of 7.68%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.36%.

About Altria Group

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.