Truvestments Capital LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Truvestments Capital LLC raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,581 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $240,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 valued at $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $57.83 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $53.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.23. The company has a market cap of $97.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $40.65 and a one year high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.05%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.