D Orazio & Associates Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,299 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,945 shares during the quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $606,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.5% in the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 87,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,973,000 after buying an additional 1,323 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth approximately $178,000. Perritt Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Altria Group by 22.6% in the second quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 10,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 163.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,317,000 after buying an additional 31,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 14,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.7 %

MO opened at $53.15 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.29. The company has a market cap of $91.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.68%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.36%.

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.