Korea Investment CORP Has $42.17 Million Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Korea Investment CORP raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 806,429 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 68,581 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $42,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth 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 increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 136.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 49.3% in 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 own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Altria Group Stock Up 1.0 %

Altria Group stock opened at $58.32 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.65 and a 52 week high of $59.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $54.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.57. The stock has a market cap of $98.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.00%. Altria Group’s 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.