Waldron Private Wealth LLC Grows Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 26.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,504 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,059 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,793,000 after purchasing an additional 191,236 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Altria Group by 120.6% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,201,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789,788 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted 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 last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,510,000 after purchasing an additional 243,201 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Altria Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,655,000 after purchasing an additional 215,594 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $50.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.94. The firm has a market cap of $85.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.15%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on MO shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.20.

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.