Krane Funds Advisors LLC Purchases 2,812 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 38.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,164 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,812 shares during the period. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $27,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.20.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $49.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $84.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $54.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.51 and a 200 day moving average of $47.88.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly 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). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.32%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.36%.

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.