Shilanski & Associates Inc. Raises Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Shilanski & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,228 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,473 shares during the period. Altria Group accounts for about 1.8% of Shilanski & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Shilanski & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 729.8% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,932 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 3,786.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698,585 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised 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. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.7 %

MO stock opened at $51.17 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.10. The firm has a market cap of $86.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.64, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders 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 7.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

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.