SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Makes New Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 265,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,895,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Altria Group by 72.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 195,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,210,000 after purchasing an additional 82,313 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 50.2% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 2,892 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 31,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after buying an additional 4,582 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $71,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $55.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.61 billion, a PE ratio of 8.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $52.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.90.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on MO shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. 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.