Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV Has $1.90 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV lowered its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,311 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Altria Group makes up about 0.9% of Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in Altria Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after buying an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after buying an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,916,000 after acquiring an additional 670,858 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,414,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,563,000 after acquiring an additional 39,341 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays raised 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $54.31 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $92.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.29, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $52.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.51%. 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.