Perennial Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 1,125 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Perennial Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,840 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares during the period. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,193,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Altria Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,164,681,000 after acquiring an additional 76,004 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,488,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,678,000 after acquiring an additional 93,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,232,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,310,000 after purchasing an additional 197,945 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MO. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $56.05 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.82. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.65 and a 12 month high of $60.18.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.02 per share. 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 7.28%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.