Vestcor Inc Raises Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc has increased its stake in Altria Group, now owning 460,186 shares after acquiring 5,537 additional shares, making up 0.9% of its portfolio.
• Altria Group's quarterly earnings beat expectations at $1.23 per share, though revenue fell 4.2% year-over-year to $4.52 billion.
• The company's dividend yield stands at 6.87%, with a recently declared quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share, reflecting a payout ratio of 68.34%.

Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 460,186 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,537 shares during the period. Altria Group comprises 0.9% of Vestcor Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Altria Group were worth $27,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Altria Group by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $617,124,000 after buying an additional 983,328 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Altria Group by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock valued at $466,811,000 after buying an additional 1,323,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,569,122 shares of the company's stock worth $343,499,000 after acquiring an additional 805,558 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group raised 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $58.13.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.3%

MO traded down $0.17 on Friday, hitting $61.77. 9,687,371 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,502,353. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $48.86 and a one year high of $62.65. The firm has a market cap of $104.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $59.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.39.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is 78.92%.

Altria Group Company 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.