3Chopt Investment Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 66,371 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 772 shares during the quarter. Altria Group makes up approximately 0.9% of 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 154.4% during the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $27,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays increased their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $51.04 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.20. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95. The firm has a market cap of $87.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research 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. 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 positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.99%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.36%.

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.