Lingohr Asset Management GmbH Invests $617,000 in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Lingohr Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 11,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $617,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Altria Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position 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 valued at $105,737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on MO shares. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO opened at $57.97 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $54.16 and its 200-day moving average is $53.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.65 and a 12-month high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.