Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC Takes $1.43 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 31,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised 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 during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the period. &PARTNERS purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $556,000. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $982,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of MO opened at $52.96 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $54.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $50.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.46.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released 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 negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

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.