Chicago Capital LLC increases stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Chicago Capital LLC raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO – Free Report) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,072 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 12,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $217,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 33,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,355,000 after buying an additional 3,994 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s shares.

Altria Group shares fell 1.1%

NYSE:MO opened at $53.69 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. it has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $54.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $50.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.02. The stock has a market cap of $92.22 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO – Get Free Report ) last issued 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 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% year-over-year. In the same period last year, the business posted earnings per share of $1.31. Sell-side analysts expect Altria Group, Inc. to post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Raises Dividends

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents an annualized dividend of $4.08 and a yield of 7.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Analysts on Wall Street are forecasting an increase

Several research firms have recently commented on MO. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.58.

See the latest stock report on MO

About Altria Group

(Free report)

Altria Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smoking 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; smokeless moist tobacco and snus products under the brands Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal and Husky; oral nicotine pouches under pe! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.

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