Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH Increases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,515 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 576 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Albion Financial Group UT grew its holdings in Altria Group by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares in the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.2% in the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,476,000 after purchasing an additional 10,079 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 7.2% in the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at $556,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $49.98 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.29. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $54.95. The stock has a market cap of $85.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.16%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.67.

About Altria Group

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.