Kera Capital Partners Inc. Grows Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. $PM

Kera Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 759.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 21,838 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,297 shares during the period. Kera Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $3,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Retirement Planning Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 229.9% during the third quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 33,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,463,000 after acquiring an additional 23,472 shares during the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.0% during the third quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,282,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Argentarii LLC boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Argentarii LLC now owns 6,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 16,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,630,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Family Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of PM stock opened at $165.91 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $117.18 and a 12 month high of $186.69. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.79. The stock has a market cap of $258.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.40.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 24th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.14. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 122.14% and a net margin of 9.33%.The company had revenue of $10.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 106.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on PM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Philip Morris International from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $180.00 price target on Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.00.

Philip Morris International Company Profile

Philip Morris International Inc (NYSE: PM) is a global tobacco company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, other nicotine-containing products and a growing portfolio of smoke-free alternatives for adult smokers. The firm traces its corporate roots to the 19th century Philip Morris enterprise and was established as an independent, publicly traded company following a 2008 separation from what is now Altria. Since the spin-off, the company has focused on serving international markets outside the United States.

PMI’s product mix includes traditional combustible cigarettes as well as smoke-free offerings such as heated tobacco systems and other reduced-risk products.