Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 45.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,374 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,899 shares during the quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Albion Financial Group UT raised its position in Altria Group by 49.1% in the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after buying an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 57,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,304,000 after buying an additional 11,111 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% during the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $556,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.08.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $53.77. The company had a trading volume of 8,010,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,355,649. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $53.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.50.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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 net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.59%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.