Retirement Systems of Alabama Trims Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,476,234 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,463 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $59,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1,800.0% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Altria Group stock traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.38. 13,794,252 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,969,122. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.46. The company has a market cap of $74.51 billion, a PE ratio of 9.08, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.04%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.