Ridgepath Capital Management LLC Has $3.01 Million Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ridgepath Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,876 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,603 shares during the period. Altria Group makes up approximately 2.4% of Ridgepath Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Ridgepath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 3,786.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698,585 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Altria Group by 415.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,935,000 after acquiring an additional 793,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,613,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $49.71 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $51.42 and its 200-day moving average is $48.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.40, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.21%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on MO shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.20.

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.