State of Alaska Department of Revenue Buys 15,365 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 318,588 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,365 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Altria Group were worth $19,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 91.0% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 97,963 shares of the company's stock worth $4,978,000 after buying an additional 46,670 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 85.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 10,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 4,617 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 5,147 shares of the company's stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 37,652 shares of the company's stock worth $1,969,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $58.97 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.41 and a 12 month high of $61.26. The company's fifty day moving average price is $58.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.60.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The business's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.00.

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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