Artemis Investment Management LLP Buys 101,669 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 106.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 196,851 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 101,669 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 154.4% during the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $45.56 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $47.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $45.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.74. The company has a market capitalization of $78.26 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.60%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

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.