Vestcor Inc Has $20.66 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 404,707 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 58,709 shares during the quarter. Altria Group makes up approximately 0.7% of Vestcor Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $20,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% during the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MO. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.33.

Altria Group Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $55.86 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $53.23 and its 200-day moving average is $50.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.63.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.