New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 162,600 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,436,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 162,600 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.14% of Altria Group worth $124,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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 report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.40.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $54.09. 1,004,264 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,859,785. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $54.95. The company has a market cap of $92.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $51.39 and its 200 day moving average is $48.29.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.02. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.54%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.34%.

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.