Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $1.16 Billion Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares during the quarter. Altria Group comprises about 0.9% of Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 1.31% of Altria Group worth $1,164,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MO. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Altria Group by 136.4% in 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, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,317,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,205 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of MO opened at $58.17 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $55.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.65 and a 12-month high of $59.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.01%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.