Clarius Group LLC Increases Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Clarius Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 57.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,591 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,765 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 154.4% in the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO remained flat at $50.45 during mid-day trading on Friday. 550,544 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,661,442. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $51.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.23. The stock has a market cap of $86.65 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.77%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective 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. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One equities research analyst has 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.90.

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.