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

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,375 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing 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.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,271,000 after acquiring an additional 840,559 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Altria Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,609,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,432,000 after acquiring an additional 42,490 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,094 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,278,000 after acquiring an additional 722,258 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,464,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038,408 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $43.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $74.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.53, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $48.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.46.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

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.