Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Increases Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 209,516 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,496 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $10,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.4% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 205,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,480,000 after acquiring an additional 4,838 shares in the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 58,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,983,000 after purchasing an additional 7,677 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 19.4% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 196,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,047,000 after purchasing an additional 32,005 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 118,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,043,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.2% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 32,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,656,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.5 %

MO opened at $55.23 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $51.51 and its 200 day moving average is $49.05. The company has a market cap of $93.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.33, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $55.40.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. The company’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal 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 7.39%. 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 68.92%.

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.