CIBC Asset Management Inc Purchases 5,464 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 297,938 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,464 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc's holdings in Altria Group were worth $15,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,679,000 after buying an additional 46,697 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company's stock worth $19,215,000 after acquiring an additional 19,893 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,573,000 after acquiring an additional 12,011 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after purchasing an additional 589,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 729.8% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company's stock worth $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO traded up $0.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $55.01. The stock had a trading volume of 8,815,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,319,094. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.42%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.