Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by Artemis Investment Management LLP

Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 274,287 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,376 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $14,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Altria Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,935,224,000 after buying an additional 589,832 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Altria Group by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,793,000 after acquiring an additional 191,236 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:MO opened at $51.92 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.29 and a 200-day moving average of $51.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.86%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Finally, 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

Altria Group 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.