Seven Eight Capital LP Makes New Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 23,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,072,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its position in Altria Group by 8.6% in the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 65,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,984,000 after purchasing an additional 5,214 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 16.4% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 189,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,620,000 after buying an additional 26,597 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 48.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 154,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,969,000 after acquiring an additional 50,275 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in Altria Group by 269.8% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 115,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,264,000 after acquiring an additional 84,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argent Trust Co boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 56,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,559,000 after acquiring an additional 4,953 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $50.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $54.95. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.77.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. Altria Group’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $1.02 dividend. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.67.

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.