Verity & Verity LLC Purchases 6,338 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Verity & Verity LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 274,568 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,338 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $14,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 56,905.6% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 192,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,834,000 after buying an additional 192,341 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 95,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,992,000 after acquiring an additional 4,233 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 37,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,908,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MO. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. 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 company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Altria Group stock opened at $56.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $95.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $56.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $51.63 and a 200-day moving average of $49.38.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.24%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.92%.

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.