Torray Investment Partners LLC Increases Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Torray Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,587 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 644 shares during the period. Torray Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% in the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.58.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE:MO traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $53.69. 8,207,736 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,317,011. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $54.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.98.

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. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.60%. Altria Group’s dividend 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.