LSV Asset Management Has $188.87 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 15.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,681,943 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 617,900 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned 0.26% of Altria Group worth $188,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4,665.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,972,259 shares of the company's stock worth $160,241,000 after buying an additional 3,888,907 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 54.1% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company's stock valued at $198,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653,455 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company's stock worth $373,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,094 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 305,996.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,316,215 shares of the company's stock worth $55,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $525,810,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of MO traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $43.59. The company had a trading volume of 11,228,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,736,930. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $46.86. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $42.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.51. The stock has a market cap of $74.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on MO shares. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.90.

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.