Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. Has $1.55 Million Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 18.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,103 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,294 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 57,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 11,111 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS bought a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $556,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MO. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $54.82. 1,260,422 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,289,527. The stock has a market cap of $94.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.46, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.83. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.44%. 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. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

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.