Lifeworks Advisors LLC Has $383,000 Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,502 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 927 shares during the quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,793,000 after buying an additional 191,236 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,510,000 after purchasing an additional 243,201 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,655,000 after purchasing an additional 215,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,916,000 after purchasing an additional 670,858 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.3 %

MO stock opened at $55.40 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $51.52 and a 200-day moving average of $49.09. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $55.62. The firm has a market cap of $93.89 billion, a PE ratio of 9.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.36%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 68.92%.

Altria Group 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.