Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Reduces Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 821,498 shares of the company’s stock after selling 60,295 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $42,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after buying an additional 1,134,748 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,164,681,000 after buying an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,124,000 after acquiring an additional 983,328 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $59.74 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $43.83 and a 1-year high of $61.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.13 and a 200 day moving average of $55.68. The firm has a market cap of $100.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.83%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

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.