National Pension Service Raises Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. by 4.4%, owning approximately 4.42 million shares valued at $265.24 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Brighton Jones LLC and Mariner LLC, have also increased their positions in Altria Group, with a total of 57.41% of the stock currently held by institutional investors.
• Altria Group’s stock has shown a price enhancement, with analysts adjusting their target price; for instance, Stifel Nicolaus raised its target from $63 to $65 and assigned a "buy" rating.

National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,419,256 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 186,897 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.26% of Altria Group worth $265,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% during the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised 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 assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.13.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO traded up $0.08 during trading on Thursday, hitting $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 twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month high of $66.29. The stock has a market cap of $110.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.68, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $60.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.17.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.