Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Position Raised by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 12.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 384,986 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 42,967 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Altria Group were worth $23,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 11,167 shares of the company's stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the company's stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 15,289 shares of the company's stock worth $799,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simmons Bank raised its position in Altria Group by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 44,171 shares of the company's stock worth $2,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,791 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MO. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $58.82 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.17 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26. The stock's 50-day moving average is $59.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.26. The stock has a market cap of $99.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.94%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

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.

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