Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4,665.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,972,259 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,888,907 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.22% of Altria Group worth $160,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MO. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 54.1% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653,455 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after buying an additional 1,343,094 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 305,996.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,316,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,347,000 after buying an additional 1,315,785 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $525,810,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 19.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,464,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038,408 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO traded up $0.06 on Tuesday, reaching $43.88. The company had a trading volume of 3,440,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,873,074. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.37 billion, a PE ratio of 9.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.26 and a 200-day moving average of $41.46. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.93%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.