Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Increases Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 77.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 208,829 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 91,021 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $13,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 62.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,446,000 after buying an additional 6,302,819 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $126,471,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,364,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,923 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Altria Group by 1,094.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,158,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,367,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,315,438,000 after buying an additional 886,583 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Trading Up 3.7%

NYSE:MO opened at $61.97 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.30 and a 12-month high of $68.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.79. The firm has a market cap of $104.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.47.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were given a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.56.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.