Altria Group, Inc. $MO Stock Purchased by Lido Advisors LLC

Lido Advisors LLC raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 393,138 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 58,733 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $26,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 126,073,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,070,964,000 after buying an additional 1,325,175 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,806,782,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,104,566,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,929,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,194,000 after buying an additional 133,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $631,606,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $77.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $71.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.37. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.70 and a fifty-two week high of $79.87.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 330.66% and a net margin of 34.51%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.70 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $1.11 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 91.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Altria Group from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Altria Group news, Director Kathryn McQuade acquired 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $67.62 per share, for a total transaction of $101,430.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 114,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,771,498.98. This trade represents a 1.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc. is a U.S.-based tobacco and nicotine company whose businesses focus primarily on the domestic market. Its products include cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, cigars, oral nicotine products and e-vapor products. Altria’s portfolio includes Marlboro cigarettes, made by Philip Morris USA; Copenhagen and Skoal smokeless tobacco products, made by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company; and products from John Middleton and Helix Innovations. The company also owns NJOY, an e-vapor brand. The company was established as Philip Morris Companies Inc. and adopted the Altria name in 2003.