Gladius Capital Management LP Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Gladius Capital Management LP raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,919 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after buying an additional 40,574 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 4.2% in the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,476,000 after acquiring an additional 10,079 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.3% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,330,000 after acquiring an additional 32,318 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 729.8% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares during the period. Finally, White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth $483,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $55.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $94.79 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.26. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $56.32.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.29%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.