Sanctuary Advisors LLC Invests $16.75 Million in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 386,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,747,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% during the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas bought a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $50.59 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.27. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $54.95. The company has a market capitalization of $86.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.07%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Altria Group Company 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.