UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,569,122 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 805,558 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.39% of Altria Group worth $343,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Diversify Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $218,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 15,686 shares of the company's stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 926 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 5,836 shares of the company's stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 21,416 shares of the company's stock worth $1,120,000 after buying an additional 5,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 206,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,818,000 after buying an additional 5,707 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $59.46 on Thursday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $58.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.83 and a 52-week 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 for the quarter, beating 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 firm 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 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.86%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

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