Stephens Inc. AR Has $7.82 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 153,129 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,004 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairman Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $53.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.38. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. Altria Group’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend yield of 7.57%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 70.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MO shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities 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 MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.17.

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.