Atlas Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 22,930 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Atlas Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5,459.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,350 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,930 shares during the quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $3,945,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $135,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 447,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,050,000 after buying an additional 44,639 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 1,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 12,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Bank of America increased 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.08.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.8 %

MO stock traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $53.77. 7,950,990 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,355,649. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $53.82. The stock has a market cap of $92.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $49.19 and its 200 day moving average is $45.40.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.59%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.36%.

Altria Group 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.