Farther Finance Advisors LLC Has $1.28 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,857 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,109 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 49,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,239,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 12,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,000 after acquiring an additional 2,263 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,423,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,863,000 after purchasing an additional 8,015 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 53,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the period. Finally, IFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 15,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.08.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.8 %

MO stock opened at $53.77 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $53.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders 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 an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.59%. 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.