Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by LS Investment Advisors LLC

LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 36.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,936 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,748 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $915,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3,786.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698,585 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 415.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,935,000 after acquiring an additional 793,327 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its holdings in Altria Group by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,916,000 after buying an additional 670,858 shares during the period. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $27,613,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $53.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $90.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $55.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.70.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.62%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

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.