Interchange Capital Partners LLC Invests $300,000 in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Interchange Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 154.4% during the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.08.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $53.77 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $49.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $53.82.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.59%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.36%.

About Altria Group

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.