Cetera Investment Advisers Acquires 17,471 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,001,756 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,471 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers owned approximately 0.06% of Altria Group worth $45,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 4,789,788 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after buying an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,613,000. Distillate Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 182,943.7% in the 2nd quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,930,000 after buying an additional 568,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP grew its stake in Altria Group by 34.2% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 1,885,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,080,000 after buying an additional 480,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of MO opened at $50.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.65, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.25. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) 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). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company 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 company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 8.01%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on MO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.