Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Raises Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 37,380 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,453 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Delta Investment Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 2.9% during the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP lifted its position in Altria Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.1% during the third quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 18,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MO. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America cut their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $56.34 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $95.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $51.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.38. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $56.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.24%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Altria Group 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.