Ballentine Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,298 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,730 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Altria Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $54.12 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $54.95. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $50.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.15.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced 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 company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.54%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.67.

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.