LRI Investments LLC Boosts Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,582 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,864 shares during the quarter. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,701,000 after purchasing an additional 242,442 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789,788 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,681,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,870,000 after purchasing an additional 617,900 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 24.4% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,772,000 after purchasing an additional 54,096 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.08.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of MO traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $52.44. 9,149,219 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,471,797. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $48.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.05. The firm has a market cap of $90.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.97, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $52.46.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.78%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.