Retirement Systems of Alabama Lowers Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,476,234 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,463 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.08% of Altria Group worth $59,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653,455 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,094 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 305,996.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,316,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,785 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $525,810,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,464,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038,408 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MO traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.38. 13,794,252 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,969,122. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.46. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

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.