National Pension Service Purchases 670,858 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

National Pension Service increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 19.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 670,858 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.23% of Altria Group worth $205,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth about $543,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 1,203 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Salley Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays upped their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.17.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $53.67 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $54.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $51.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.49.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

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.