GM Advisory Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

GM Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,592 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,041 shares during the quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 154.4% in the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MO. UBS Group upped their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays boosted 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. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $50.23 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $54.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.69. The firm has a market cap of $86.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.51, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.12%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend 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.