Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Decreases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lowered its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,220 shares of the company’s stock after selling 580 shares during the quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth about $320,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 272,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,359,000 after acquiring an additional 6,820 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 33,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,992,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 71,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,321,000 after acquiring an additional 4,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 33,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $57.79 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $47.53 and a one year high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.06%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.75.

Altria Group Company 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.