Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) is Kennon Green & Company LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Kennon Green & Company LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 123,415 shares of the company’s stock after selling 695 shares during the quarter. Altria Group accounts for about 5.6% of Kennon Green & Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Kennon Green & Company LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MO. State Street Corp increased its position in Altria Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,932 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,916,000 after acquiring an additional 670,858 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth $32,206,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $55.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $52.61 and a 200 day moving average of $52.70.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.42%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

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.