Orca Investment Management LLC Has $511,000 Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Orca Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,020 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Altria Group by 120.6% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Altria Group by 415.4% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth $27,613,000. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 182,943.7% during the 2nd quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,930,000 after purchasing an additional 568,955 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $49.84 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $54.95. The company has a market cap of $85.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.19%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America increased their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

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.