Capital International Sarl Increases Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Capital International Sarl boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 33.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,119 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,392 shares during the quarter. Capital International Sarl's holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.00.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:MO traded down $0.80 on Wednesday, reaching $58.02. 3,326,538 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,875,101. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $42.40 and a 12 month high of $60.18. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.39. The firm has a market cap of $98.09 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.03%. Altria Group's payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.