Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Position Increased by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 823,545 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,910 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $37,512,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,701,000 after acquiring an additional 242,442 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted 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 valued at $382,201,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789,788 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,772,000 after acquiring an additional 54,096 shares during the period. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,225,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,110,000 after acquiring an additional 64,062 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.9% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 2,111,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,221,000 after acquiring an additional 80,215 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $53.77 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $53.82. The company has a market capitalization of $92.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly 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). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.08.

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.