Waterloo Capital L.P. Boosts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Waterloo Capital L.P. lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,509 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,214 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,201,000 after buying an additional 4,789,788 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association grew its holdings in Altria Group by 103.9% during the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,742,000 after acquiring an additional 919,058 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 131.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,418,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,211,000 after purchasing an additional 805,051 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 415.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,935,000 after purchasing an additional 793,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth $27,613,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Trading Down 2.3 %

MO stock opened at $50.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.64. 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 results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. Research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. 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, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.67.

Altria Group 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.