Mather Group LLC. Purchases 4,110 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 69.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,011 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,617,000 after buying an additional 5,418 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 56,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,269,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031 shares in the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $252,000. Bristlecone Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 8,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 1,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $906,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $49.48. The stock had a trading volume of 8,006,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,751,213. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.08. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $51.40. The stock has a market cap of $84.99 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46, a P/E/G 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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.90.

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.