Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 507,926 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 23.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,667,816 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 507,926 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.16% of Altria Group worth $139,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,215,000 after purchasing an additional 19,893 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after buying an additional 12,011 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Altria Group by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 706,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,084,000 after buying an additional 54,102 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in Altria Group by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 89,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,581,000 after acquiring an additional 29,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 54,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,859,000 after acquiring an additional 12,320 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $57.21 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $40.65 and a one year high of $60.18. The company has a market capitalization of $96.72 billion, a PE ratio of 8.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.72.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. On average, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.13%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Altria Group 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.