Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 7.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 387,382 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 25,206 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $19,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $543,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 83.6% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,692 shares of the company's stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 2,136 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 12.6% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 25,811 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,126,000 after buying an additional 2,896 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 4.1% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 27,218 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,187,000 after buying an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 12,108 shares of the company's stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on MO shares. Bank of America reduced their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.4 %

MO traded down $0.76 on Thursday, reaching $53.53. The company had a trading volume of 3,747,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,845,831. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.72 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $55.05.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.62%. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Altria Group Company 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.