Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 136.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,022,121 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,166,701 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.12% of Altria Group worth $105,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MO. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,679,000 after acquiring an additional 46,697 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,215,000 after purchasing an additional 19,893 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company's stock worth $12,573,000 after purchasing an additional 12,011 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company's stock worth $2,935,224,000 after purchasing an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 706,967 shares of the company's stock worth $36,084,000 after buying an additional 54,102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

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Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.02 during trading on Monday, hitting $57.62. 11,946,626 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,547,464. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.65 and a 52-week high of $59.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.42 and a 200 day moving average of $53.46. The company has a market cap of $97.41 billion, a PE ratio of 8.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.08%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.29.

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.