Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 10.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 655,007 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 64,245 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Altria Group were worth $39,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company's stock worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Altria Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock worth $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Altria Group by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Altria Group by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock worth $617,124,000 after purchasing an additional 983,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Altria Group by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock worth $466,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,421 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $0.29 on Wednesday, reaching $59.73. 3,460,737 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,676,653. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.57 and a 12 month high of $61.26. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $59.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.87. The company has a market cap of $100.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.83%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.75.

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.