Oakworth Capital Inc. Buys 1,329 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,429 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares during the quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MO. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO opened at $49.22 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $54.95. The firm has a market cap of $84.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.88.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.29%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.36%.

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.