Czech National Bank Acquires 20,265 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 347,576 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,265 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $17,740,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,793,000 after buying an additional 191,236 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Altria Group by 120.6% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 25.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,510,000 after purchasing an additional 243,201 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,655,000 after purchasing an additional 215,594 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Two investment 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, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2 %

MO traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.10. The stock had a trading volume of 7,410,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,159,582. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $54.95. The company has a market capitalization of $86.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $51.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.33.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.36%.

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.