Quilter Plc Lowers Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Quilter Plc cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,995 shares during the period. Quilter Plc’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789,788 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 103.9% during the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,742,000 after buying an additional 919,058 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 131.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,418,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,211,000 after buying an additional 805,051 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 415.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,935,000 after buying an additional 793,327 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,059,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,065,000 after acquiring an additional 742,896 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $52.96 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average of $50.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.50. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.70%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays lifted 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. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.67.

About Altria Group

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.