Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $6.07 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 118,865 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,569 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems' holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 729.8% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company's stock worth $100,511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 3,786.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,985,000 after buying an additional 1,698,585 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company's stock worth $295,055,000 after buying an additional 1,299,703 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 415.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company's stock worth $42,935,000 after buying an additional 793,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,916,000 after acquiring an additional 670,858 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on MO shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target 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, UBS Group raised 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.54 on Friday, hitting $55.93. The company had a trading volume of 8,201,730 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,890,591. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.59 and a 200-day moving average of $49.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $56.32.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. Altria Group's quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.29%. This is a positive change from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

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.