State of Alaska Department of Revenue Decreases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lowered its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 337,413 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,205 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $17,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 388,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,940,000 after acquiring an additional 11,430 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 60,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 7,253 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its holdings in Altria Group by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 105,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 13,100 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 47.1% in the 1st quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 37,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,673,000 after purchasing an additional 12,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 55,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,435,000 after purchasing an additional 10,417 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.5 %

MO opened at $49.71 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $51.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.06. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95. The firm has a market cap of $85.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.21%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MO. UBS Group lifted 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. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

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.