Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 39,341 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,414,856 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,341 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of Altria Group worth $178,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,679,000 after purchasing an additional 46,697 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,603,000 after purchasing an additional 40,574 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,215,000 after purchasing an additional 19,893 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after purchasing an additional 12,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,330,000 after purchasing an additional 32,318 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $52.65 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $53.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.42. The firm has a market cap of $89.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

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.