World Investment Advisors Has $1.92 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

World Investment Advisors grew its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 95.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,623 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,846 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Altria Group by 136.4% in the fourth 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 boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of MO opened at $56.05 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.78. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.65 and a 12 month high of $60.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS 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, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal 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 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 dividend yield of 7.28%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

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.