Affinity Capital Advisors LLC Buys 921 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Affinity Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,912 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 921 shares during the quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $315,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,701,000 after purchasing an additional 242,442 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted 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 valued at $382,201,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789,788 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,510,000 after acquiring an additional 243,201 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,655,000 after acquiring an additional 215,594 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,772,000 after purchasing an additional 54,096 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $51.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $54.95. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.40 and its 200 day moving average is $46.98.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. 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. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.97%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised 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. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.