Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Raises Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 387,382 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,206 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $19,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 3,786.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698,585 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after buying an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 415.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,935,000 after acquiring an additional 793,327 shares during the period. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,613,000. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 182,943.7% during the 2nd quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,930,000 after acquiring an additional 568,955 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $54.28 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $55.05. The company has a market capitalization of $91.99 billion, a PE ratio of 9.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $51.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.70.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.52%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

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.