Royal Bank of Canada Purchases 1,323,421 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 17.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,323,421 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.53% of Altria Group worth $466,811,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. 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 report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $59.44. 6,315,259 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,738,712. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $58.02 and a 200-day moving average of $55.51. The firm has a market cap of $100.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.07, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $43.83 and a one year high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The company's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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