Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Buys 128,856 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1,209.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,512 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 128,856 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $91,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Altria Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Altria Group by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,421 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup increased 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. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $57.99 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $58.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.41. The company has a market cap of $97.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.83 and a twelve month high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.04%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.34%.

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.