Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Griffin Asset Management Inc.

Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 26.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,795 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,544 shares during the quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 415.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,935,000 after purchasing an additional 793,327 shares during the period. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $27,613,000. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 182,943.7% during the second quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,930,000 after purchasing an additional 568,955 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MO. Bank of America decreased their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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. Citigroup boosted their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.20.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $49.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.73 billion, a PE ratio of 10.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $54.95. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.68.

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 business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost 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 8.17%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.36%.

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.