Artemis Investment Management LLP Purchases 66,060 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 33.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 262,911 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 66,060 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $11,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 103.9% during the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,742,000 after purchasing an additional 919,058 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,674,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,567,000 after purchasing an additional 915,478 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 131.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,418,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,211,000 after purchasing an additional 805,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 415.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,935,000 after purchasing an additional 793,327 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MO traded down $0.03 during trading on Monday, reaching $50.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,986,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,636,927. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $51.40. The stock has a market cap of $86.57 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day moving average is $47.51 and its 200 day moving average is $44.36.

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 business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MO. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective 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 Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.90.

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.