Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 71,026 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 34.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 276,585 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,026 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $11,157,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted 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 worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MO. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.94. 5,167,294 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,765,296. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $48.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.76 billion, a PE ratio of 9.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

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.