KCM Investment Advisors LLC Has $453,000 Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,949 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Albion Financial Group UT increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% during the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after acquiring an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 57,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 11,111 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS bought a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $556,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $53.77 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $53.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.40.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The company’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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.59%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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. Finally, Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.08.

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.