Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,852,261 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,841 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Altria Group worth $122,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,364,216,000 after buying an additional 1,599,923 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,367,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,315,438,000 after acquiring an additional 886,583 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,724,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,620,229,000 after acquiring an additional 764,221 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 62.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,446,000 after acquiring an additional 6,302,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,747,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $842,122,000 after purchasing an additional 132,846 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.5%

MO stock opened at $62.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $104.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.47. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.85 and a 12-month high of $68.60. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.82.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 103.16%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MO. UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.