Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 576,102 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 60.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 373,862 shares of the company's stock after selling 576,102 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama's holdings in Altria Group were worth $19,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% during the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $54.92. 6,532,765 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,577,666. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $53.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.63.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.43%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MO. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of 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 increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.33.

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.