New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Buys 13,100 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,995 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,100 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4,665.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,972,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,241,000 after buying an additional 3,888,907 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 54.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,084,000 after buying an additional 1,653,455 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after buying an additional 1,343,094 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $525,810,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 103.9% during the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,742,000 after buying an additional 919,058 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $45.55. 12,238,540 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,876,758. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $45.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.24 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $47.19.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

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.