Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 118,865 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,569 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 30.2% during the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133 shares during the period. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $3,866,000. TIAA Trust National Association raised its holdings in Altria Group by 4.4% during the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 59,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,592,000 after purchasing an additional 2,520 shares in the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its position in Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 14,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in Altria Group by 66.2% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 46,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,021,000 after purchasing an additional 18,450 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of MO opened at $55.93 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.26. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $56.32. The stock has a market cap of $94.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its 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 negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. 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 firm earned $1.28 EPS. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

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.