Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Increases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,375 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,775 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $43.25 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.12 and a 200-day moving average of $41.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.06%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.