Independent Wealth Network Inc. Purchases 1,181 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Independent Wealth Network Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,056 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,181 shares during the period. Independent Wealth Network Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 108,222.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,590,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $849,763,000 after purchasing an additional 18,573,146 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,066,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,000,861,000 after buying an additional 3,516,646 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.3% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,132,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,431,000 after buying an additional 1,926,492 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,105,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $781,883,000 after buying an additional 1,531,337 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 64.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,771,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,062,000 after buying an additional 1,472,800 shares during the period. 58.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO traded down $0.24 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.11. 1,717,368 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,800,599. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.04. The firm has a market cap of $76.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.35 and a 1 year high of $51.57.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.31. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.43 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 225.61% and a net margin of 27.40%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Altria Group from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.50.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company provides cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; cigars and pipe tobacco principally under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco products and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; and on! oral nicotine pouches.