Sanctuary Advisors LLC Takes Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 386,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,747,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Albion Financial Group UT increased its holdings in Altria Group by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after buying an additional 16,541 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 7.2% during the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 4.2% during the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,476,000 after buying an additional 10,079 shares during the period. Finally, &PARTNERS purchased a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $556,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $50.59 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $86.89 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.59 and its 200 day moving average is $47.27. 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 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 analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.07%. 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 85.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective 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, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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.