Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 159,992 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,862 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Altria Group stock opened at $41.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $48.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.42.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

About Altria Group

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.