Alethea Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Alethea Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 8,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $437,000. Altria Group makes up 0.4% of Alethea Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock worth $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $617,124,000 after buying an additional 983,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $59.60 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.44 and a 12-month high of $60.18. The company has a market cap of $100.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.10, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $57.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.88.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.00.

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.

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