Korea Investment CORP Trims Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP trimmed its stake in Altria by 26.2% in Q3, selling 328,427 shares and leaving it with 924,342 shares (about 0.06% of the company) worth $61.06 million.
• Other institutions boosted positions — Ameriprise increased its Altria stake 62.5% to 16.4 million shares, Vanguard owns 159.7 million shares (~$9.36 billion), and roughly 57.41% of the stock is held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Analysts carry a consensus "Hold" rating with an average target of $64.33, and Altria announced a quarterly dividend of $1.06 (annualized $4.24) implying a 6.4% yield with a payout ratio of 103.16%.

Korea Investment CORP reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 26.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 924,342 shares of the company's stock after selling 328,427 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.06% of Altria Group worth $61,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 62.5% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company's stock worth $954,446,000 after buying an additional 6,302,819 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company's stock worth $9,364,216,000 after buying an additional 1,599,923 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,264,224 shares of the company's stock valued at $413,815,000 after buying an additional 1,249,525 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1,094.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,158,437 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,919,000 after buying an additional 1,061,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,367,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,315,438,000 after acquiring an additional 886,583 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.33.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MO stock opened at $66.48 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.45. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.82 and a 12-month high of $70.51. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $63.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.58.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a net margin of 29.84% and a negative return on equity of 287.61%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict 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 Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 25th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 103.16%.

Altria Group Profile

Altria Group, Inc NYSE: MO is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company's operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria's principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.

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