Ieq Capital LLC Boosts Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,746 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,364 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after buying an additional 4,789,788 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 103.9% in the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,742,000 after purchasing an additional 919,058 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 131.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,418,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,211,000 after purchasing an additional 805,051 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 415.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,935,000 after purchasing an additional 793,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $27,613,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $50.39 on Friday. 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 cap of $86.55 billion, a PE ratio of 10.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $51.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.81.

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 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 business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.10%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. 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.