International Assets Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 104,676 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 104,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,474,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock traded down $0.25 on Wednesday, reaching $51.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,158,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,677,989. The firm has a market cap of $86.79 billion, a PE ratio of 8.65, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.74. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.97%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 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.