Challenger Wealth Management Purchases New Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Challenger Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 valued at $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,134,748 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during the 4th 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 boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock worth $617,124,000 after purchasing an additional 983,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $59.61. 5,214,844 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,668,349. The stock has a market cap of $100.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $58.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.75. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.83 and a 12-month high of $61.26.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.84%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

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.