Williams Financial LLC Takes Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Williams Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. &PARTNERS purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $556,000. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $982,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $52.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.46. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America increased their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two investment 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 MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.67.

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.