Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Acquires 7,465 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 186,544 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,465 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% in the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 57,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 11,111 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% in the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at $556,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.08.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $53.77. 7,950,990 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,355,649. The stock has a market cap of $92.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.19 and a 200-day moving average of $45.40. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $53.82.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.59%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

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.