CCM Investment Group LLC Acquires New Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• CCM Investment Group LLC acquired 104,403 shares of Altria Group, Inc., worth around $6.07 million, making it the company's 20th largest position within its investment portfolio.
• Altria Group reported $1.44 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and its revenue increased by 0.2% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 6.4%, with a payout ratio of 78.92%.

CCM Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 104,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,071,000. Altria Group makes up approximately 0.6% of CCM Investment Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,490,196,000 after buying an additional 1,300,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 5.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company's stock worth $3,798,592,000 after buying an additional 3,483,487 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Altria Group by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company's stock valued at $734,827,000 after buying an additional 441,083 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $717,913,000 after buying an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group raised Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.13.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded down $0.48 on Wednesday, reaching $65.53. 7,505,695 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,174,396. The company's 50 day moving average is $59.93 and its 200-day moving average is $58.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.86 and a fifty-two week high of $66.29.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.92%.

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.