Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $21.36 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 468,852 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,951 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $21,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MO. Wealth Alliance grew its holdings in Altria Group by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 9,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.5% during the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 25,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,309 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in the second quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 63,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,870,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559 shares in the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 43,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,997,000 after buying an additional 2,308 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MO. Bank of America lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $50.55 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.67. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95. The company has a market capitalization of $86.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65.

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). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.07%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

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.