Tompkins Financial Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Tompkins Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 96.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,201 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 163.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after purchasing an additional 31,568 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Altria Group by 24.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,141,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,550,000 after purchasing an additional 423,091 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 387.9% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 350,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,956,000 after buying an additional 278,500 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 25,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Alliance grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 9,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $51.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $86.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.91.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MO. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.43.

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.