Cortland Associates Inc. MO Boosts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cortland Associates Inc. MO raised its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,363 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Cortland Associates Inc. MO’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 6,969.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,787,000 after buying an additional 2,131,813 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $91,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Altria Group by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,811,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 86.0% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,675,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,894,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236,782 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.75.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $57.79 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.61. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.11 and a 52-week high of $61.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.34 billion, a PE ratio of 9.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

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.