LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Makes New Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 48,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,528,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LGT Group Foundation bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $446,000. Bellecapital International Ltd. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 60,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after acquiring an additional 26,147 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $13,895,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 72.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 195,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,210,000 after acquiring an additional 82,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on MO shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.4 %

MO opened at $55.83 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.91. The stock has a market cap of $94.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

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.