Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 14.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,682,036 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 209,467 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned about 0.10% of Altria Group worth $97,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company's stock worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,164,681,000 after acquiring an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Altria Group by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $859,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased 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 acquiring an additional 983,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.3%

MO traded down $0.19 during trading on Monday, reaching $58.57. 3,976,134 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,531,008. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.65 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.61. The stock's 50-day moving average is $59.22 and its 200 day moving average is $56.30. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $45.73 and a 12 month high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Altria Group 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.