Cetera Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 22.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 427,087 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,227 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $18,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MO. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Altria Group by 120.6% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $525,810,000. United Services Automobile Association boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 103.9% in the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,742,000 after purchasing an additional 919,058 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,674,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,567,000 after purchasing an additional 915,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 131.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,418,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,211,000 after purchasing an additional 805,051 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $51.07. 12,662,503 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,285,990. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.97. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $51.40. The stock has a market cap of $87.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

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.