Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 28.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 179,150 shares of the company’s stock after selling 70,945 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $21,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 50,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,164,000 after buying an additional 4,363 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.8% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 5,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 57.4% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Smith Anglin Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the second quarter worth $207,000. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 28,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,915,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

PM opened at $129.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $126.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.41. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.82 and a 52-week high of $134.15.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $9.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.35% and a negative return on equity of 117.94%. Philip Morris International’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.67 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is currently 85.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $124,624,965.85. This trade represents a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target (up from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.50.

Philip Morris International Company Profile

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.