Principal Securities Inc. Has $3.59 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,295 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,738 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $53.87 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.38. The company has a market cap of $91.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business 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 is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 70.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America dropped their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays upped their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.17.

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.