Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Has $34.98 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 870,669 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,062 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $34,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 404,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,248,000 after purchasing an additional 6,324 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Altria Group by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,711,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,690,000 after purchasing an additional 89,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $498,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $0.06 on Friday, hitting $41.59. 3,632,468 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,805,275. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.50. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $48.04. The company has a market cap of $73.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.43%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $36.10 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.82.

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.