Vestcor Inc Increases Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Vestcor Inc increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 404,707 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 58,709 shares during the quarter. Altria Group accounts for approximately 0.7% of Vestcor Inc's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Altria Group were worth $20,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Altria Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company's stock worth $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3,786.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,698,585 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company's stock valued at $295,055,000 after buying an additional 1,299,703 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its stake in Altria Group by 19.9% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company's stock worth $205,916,000 after buying an additional 670,858 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $55.50. The stock had a trading volume of 8,318,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,605,217. The company has a market capitalization of $94.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.38, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.63. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $53.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.61.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday. UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Company 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.