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

Lido Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 17.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 393,138 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,733 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $26,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cortland Associates Inc. MO boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.2% during the third quarter. Cortland Associates Inc. MO now owns 11,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 5.8% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 1.3% in the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $821,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Griffith & Werner Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Griffith & Werner Inc. now owns 5,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO opened at $77.37 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $71.83 and a 200-day moving average of $69.37. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $54.70 and a one year high of $79.87. The company has a market cap of $128.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were purchased at an average price of $67.62 per share, for a total transaction of $101,430.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 114,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,771,498.98. This represents a 1.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MO. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Freedom Broker upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Altria Group from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.67.

Altria Group Profile

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.