Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Takes $200,000 Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 3,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. 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 acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings in Altria Group by 0.3% in 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 in the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 8,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Certuity LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the second quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 13,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MO. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO opened at $49.72 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.71. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $54.95. The company has a market cap of $85.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This is an increase 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 8.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.