Second Line Capital LLC Invests $240,000 in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Second Line Capital LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 5,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.9% during the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during the 2nd 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 period. SP Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 8,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 13,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MO. Bank of America boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group increased 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. Barclays raised their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $51.05 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95. The company has a market capitalization of $87.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.15.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its 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). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.99%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Altria Group 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.