Verity & Verity LLC Buys 412 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Verity & Verity LLC increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 252,875 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 412 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $11,518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings 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 valued at $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 25.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after buying an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 415.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,935,000 after acquiring an additional 793,327 shares during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth about $27,613,000. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 182,943.7% during the 2nd quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,930,000 after purchasing an additional 568,955 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.2 %

MO opened at $50.93 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $54.95. The company has a market cap of $87.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50 day moving average is $51.57 and its 200 day moving average is $47.25.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 85.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MO. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays boosted 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 lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of 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 issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.