First Citizens Financial Corp Makes New $221,000 Investment in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

First Citizens Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 26,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,456,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 35.6% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 24.7% in the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 54.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 8,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154 shares in the last quarter. 79.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PM shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Philip Morris International from $113.00 to $111.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Citigroup raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $109.00 to $117.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 20th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, 22nd Century Group reaffirmed a “reiterates” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Tuesday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.70.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Philip Morris International stock opened at $95.79 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.08. The company has a market capitalization of $148.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.53, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.71. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $82.85 and a fifty-two week high of $105.62.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.76 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 127.84% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 27th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 26th. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.43%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is currently 98.26%.

About Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches.