Swiss National Bank Purchases 12,700 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,098,200 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $260,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 30.2% during the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,866,000. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 4.4% in the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 59,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,592,000 after acquiring an additional 2,520 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 14,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 66.2% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 46,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 18,450 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $55.93 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $56.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $51.59 and its 200-day moving average is $49.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America cut their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup increased their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

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.