Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 19.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,326 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares during the quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,945,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $330,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 53,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,775 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 161,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,542,000 after acquiring an additional 12,659 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO traded up $0.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $52.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,145,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,471,797. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $48.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.05. The stock has a market cap of $90.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $52.46.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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 business 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%. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 7.78%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.