Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $78.03 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 24.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,492,198 shares of the company’s stock after selling 477,064 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.09% of Altria Group worth $78,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $55.15 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The company has a market cap of $93.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $52.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.78.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.40%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 62.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

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.