Haverford Trust Co Increases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Haverford Trust Co increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 58,447 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,677 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 483,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,087,000 after acquiring an additional 35,914 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 2,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at $216,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 24,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 41.5% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 8,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,492 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.5 %

MO stock opened at $55.23 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $55.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.05. The stock has a market cap of $93.60 billion, a PE ratio of 9.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.39%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MO. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

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.