Prospera Financial Services Inc Has $4.04 Million Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,149 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,088 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,793,000 after buying an additional 191,236 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 5.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,510,000 after acquiring an additional 243,201 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in Altria Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,655,000 after purchasing an additional 215,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,916,000 after purchasing an additional 670,858 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $55.86 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $56.55. The firm has a market cap of $94.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s fifty day moving average is $51.67 and its 200-day moving average is $49.47.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.30%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.92%.

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.