Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by Distillate Capital Partners LLC

Distillate Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 182,943.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 569,266 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 568,955 shares during the quarter. Altria Group accounts for 1.4% of Distillate Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Distillate Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $25,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its holdings in Altria Group by 0.3% in the second quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 76,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,489,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 2.5% in the second quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 8,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Certuity LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 13,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $51.02 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.92.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend 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%.

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.