Allstate Corp Purchases New Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Allstate Corp acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 50,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,665,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,679,000 after buying an additional 46,697 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,215,000 after purchasing an additional 19,893 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,573,000 after buying an additional 12,011 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 706,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,084,000 after buying an additional 54,102 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 89,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,581,000 after buying an additional 29,421 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.2 %

MO opened at $58.17 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $55.07 and its 200-day moving average is $53.59. The stock has a market cap of $98.35 billion, a PE ratio of 8.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.65 and a twelve month high of $59.67.

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 negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given 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 yield of 7.01%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

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.