Advisors Asset Management Inc. Decreases Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 311,127 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,529 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $16,269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company's stock worth $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company's stock worth $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company's stock worth $2,079,919,000 after buying an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter worth $32,206,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.1 %

MO traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $57.46. 33,829,726 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,595,164. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $54.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.65 and a 1-year high of $59.67.

Remove Ads

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MO. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.29.

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.