Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Acquires 7,968 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,300 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,968 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 62.5% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $954,446,000 after acquiring an additional 6,302,819 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,364,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,923 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Altria Group by 1,094.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,158,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061,413 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Altria Group by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,367,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,315,438,000 after purchasing an additional 886,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Altria Group by 7.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,073,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $797,587,000 after buying an additional 814,665 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of MO opened at $68.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.41. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.82 and a 12 month high of $69.10.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5.08 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase 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 stock is undervalued.

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 given a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 103.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MO. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Five investment 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.33.

About Altria Group

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.