Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Invests $98,000 in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $98,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stokes Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.6% during the second quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 64,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,945,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 18.1% during the second quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 65,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,965,000 after acquiring an additional 9,961 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.9% during the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 21,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $976,000 after acquiring an additional 804 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% during the second quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 55,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,537,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.6% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 85,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,911,000 after acquiring an additional 2,162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $49.48. 8,006,601 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,751,213. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $51.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.08.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.92%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.90.

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.