Lingohr Asset Management GmbH Buys New Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Lingohr Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 11,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $617,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $57.62. 11,946,626 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,547,473. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.80, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.48. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.65 and a twelve month high of $59.67.

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Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (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, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.08%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on MO shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.29.

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.