Lazari Capital Management Inc. Has $1.52 Million Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Lazari Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 33,405 shares of the company’s stock after selling 382 shares during the period. Altria Group makes up 0.7% of Lazari Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Lazari Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 120,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,844,000 after acquiring an additional 5,517 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 39.8% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 25,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 7,142 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 137,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,536,000 after purchasing an additional 5,025 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $50.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $51.57 and a 200-day moving average of $47.25. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $54.95. The stock has a market cap of $87.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share 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 $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.01%. 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 85.36%.

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.