Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $13.84 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 303,939 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,762 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $13,844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% during the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $29,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.58.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE MO traded down $0.58 during trading on Friday, reaching $53.69. 8,207,736 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,317,011. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $50.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.98. The firm has a market cap of $92.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.36%.

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.