Blue Capital Inc. Makes New Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Blue Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,214 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:MO traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.51. 6,521,641 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,767,019. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.58 and a fifty-two week high of $60.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.24, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Altria Group's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.74%. Altria Group's payout ratio is 68.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.00.

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.