Premier Fund Managers Ltd Takes $4.95 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 95,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,948,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,488,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,678,000 after purchasing an additional 93,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its holdings in Altria Group by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,232,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,310,000 after purchasing an additional 197,945 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $58.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $98.60 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.65 and a 1 year high of $59.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $54.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.57.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.