Ted Buchan & Co Boosts Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ted Buchan & Co raised its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 17.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,277 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,075 shares during the period. Ted Buchan & Co’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Altria Group by 136.4% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,022,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166,701 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.00.

Altria Group Stock Down 3.2 %

Altria Group stock opened at $56.05 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.65 and a 52-week high of $60.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.56, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $55.72 and a 200-day moving average of $53.78.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.28%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.