Virtu Financial LLC Acquires New Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 39,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,041,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 6.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 107,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,891,000 after acquiring an additional 6,282 shares during the period. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $304,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 39.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 12,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 3,546 shares in the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV lifted its stake in Altria Group by 108.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 17,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 8,868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in Altria Group by 8.5% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 112,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,534,000 after buying an additional 8,772 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $55.01 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $93.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.71.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.42%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MO. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.33.

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.