Park Avenue Securities LLC Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,499 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 9,456 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after acquiring an additional 589,832 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company's stock worth $2,079,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $562,793,000 after purchasing an additional 191,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company's stock valued at $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $51.92. 6,528,941 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,628,470. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $54.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.91. The firm has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. Altria Group's revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.86%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.92%.

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.