Kanawha Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Kanawha Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,095 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,116 shares during the quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MO. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Altria Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 729.8% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,511,000 after buying an additional 1,731,932 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3,786.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698,585 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,916,000 after purchasing an additional 670,858 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $53.71 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.04 billion, a PE ratio of 8.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s fifty day moving average is $52.90 and its 200 day moving average is $52.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.60%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

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.