Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 129,434 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,488 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,701,000 after acquiring an additional 242,442 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Altria Group by 120.6% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,201,000 after buying an additional 4,789,788 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,510,000 after buying an additional 243,201 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Altria Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,655,000 after buying an additional 215,594 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,772,000 after buying an additional 54,096 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:MO opened at $50.23 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $54.95. The company has a market cap of $86.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.69.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays increased their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.67.

About Altria Group

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.