CIBC Asset Management Inc Purchases 19,291 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 292,474 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 19,291 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $14,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Intellectus Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.7% during the third quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 12,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $238,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 55,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,827,000 after purchasing an additional 3,975 shares in the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 7,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 927 shares during the period. Finally, Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC now owns 5,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $55.94 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $56.32. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.54 and its 200 day moving average is $49.13.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

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.