AGF Management Ltd. Purchases 39,995 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 73.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,629 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,995 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,364,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,923 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,367,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,315,438,000 after buying an additional 886,583 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,724,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,620,229,000 after buying an additional 764,221 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 62.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $954,446,000 after buying an additional 6,302,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Altria Group by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,747,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $842,122,000 after acquiring an additional 132,846 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MO. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.56.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $64.20 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.01 and a 52-week high of $68.60. The stock has a market cap of $107.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.62, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.86.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 29.84% and a negative return on equity of 287.61%. The business’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.16%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.