LPL Financial LLC Increases Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,677,025 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 224,206 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.16% of Altria Group worth $121,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. SP Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 2.5% during the second quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 8,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Certuity LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 13,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.0% in the second quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.3% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 9,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 14,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $52.64 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $50.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.33. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $54.95. The company has a market cap of $90.42 billion, a PE ratio of 11.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 boost 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 yield of 7.75%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America raised 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 upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.