Bluefin Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Bluefin Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 57.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,569 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,068 shares during the quarter. Bluefin Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Altria Group by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 120,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,844,000 after acquiring an additional 5,517 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Altria Group by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 811 shares during the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 39.8% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 25,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,011,000 after acquiring an additional 7,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 137,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,536,000 after acquiring an additional 5,025 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $50.93 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share 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 paid a $1.02 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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.