Van ECK Associates Corp Has $160.24 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4,665.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,972,259 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,888,907 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $160,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 103.2% during the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $30,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $43.88. The stock had a trading volume of 3,440,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,873,074. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.46. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.93%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

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.