Public Sector Pension Investment Board Grows Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. by 9.5%, owning a total of 230,220 shares worth approximately $13.8 million.
• Altria Group reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.44 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.07 and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 0.2%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 6.2%, with a payout ratio of 78.92%.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 9.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 230,220 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 19,937 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board's holdings in Altria Group were worth $13,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,490,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company's stock valued at $734,827,000 after purchasing an additional 441,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.13.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO traded up $0.08 during trading on Thursday, reaching $65.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,747,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,581,546. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.86 and a 52-week high of $66.29. The company's fifty day moving average price is $60.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.17. The company has a market capitalization of $110.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.92%.

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.