State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 590,853 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,171 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $39,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 335,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,158,000 after buying an additional 26,624 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,522,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,677,000 after acquiring an additional 44,303 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,364,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,923 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 155.4% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 31,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,062,000 after purchasing an additional 18,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $126,471,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $67.23 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.19. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $52.46 and a one year high of $68.60. The stock has a market cap of $112.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.47.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.Altria Group’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.16%.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.67.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.