Founders Financial Securities LLC Buys Shares of 4,761 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Founders Financial Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 49.1% during the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $556,000. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $982,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.58.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.1 %

Altria Group stock opened at $53.69 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $54.95. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.98. The company has a market cap of $92.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. Altria Group’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.60%. 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.