World Equity Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

World Equity Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,638 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,222 shares during the quarter. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% during 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. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% during 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% during 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after purchasing an additional 589,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays raised 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. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $55.01 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $52.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.75. The company has a market capitalization of $93.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.03.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.42%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

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.