Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. Acquires 383 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,424 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $930,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 154.4% during the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:MO opened at $51.02 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $54.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.92.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 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 firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays upped their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.67.

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.