Arizona State Retirement System Boosts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 505,152 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,806 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Altria Group were worth $30,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO opened at $57.79 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.11 and a 12 month high of $61.26. The company has a market capitalization of $97.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.59. The company's fifty day moving average price is $59.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.61.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.06%. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MO. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.

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