Krane Funds Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 38.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,164 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,812 shares during the period. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the second 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, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO opened at $49.06 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $54.95. The stock has a market cap of $84.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $51.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.88.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.32%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lowered their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.20.

Altria Group Company 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.