Vestcor Inc Boosts Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Vestcor Inc raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 454,649 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,942 shares during the period. Altria Group makes up 0.8% of Vestcor Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $23,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,060,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 5,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $57.83 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.23. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.65 and a 52-week high of $59.67. The firm has a market cap of $97.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.05%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.29%.

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.