Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd Acquires Shares of 40,000 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,083,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MO. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 163.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,317,000 after buying an additional 31,568 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 6.4% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 47,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,848 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.1% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,097,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,969,000 after buying an additional 42,904 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.9% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 234,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,671,000 after buying an additional 13,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 66.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $772,000 after buying an additional 6,162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE MO opened at $51.92 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.25 and a 200-day moving average of $52.07. The company has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.86%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.92%.

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.