Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Takes Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 19,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $788,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Altria Group by 4,665.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,972,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,241,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,907 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 54.1% during the 3rd 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. boosted 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 valued at $373,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,094 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $525,810,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,464,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038,408 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target 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 issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $46.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $79.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.69, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $46.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.86.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Altria Group Company 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.