Empirical Finance LLC Raises Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,783 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,003 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 63.9% in the second 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 period. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in Altria Group by 33.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $55.78 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $55.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.09. The company has a market capitalization of $94.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.36, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.31%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 68.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on MO shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

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.