Vestcor Inc Sells 14,704 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Vestcor Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 434,858 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,704 shares during the period. Altria Group comprises 0.9% of Vestcor Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $28,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,364,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,923 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,367,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,315,438,000 after purchasing an additional 886,583 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,724,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,620,229,000 after purchasing an additional 764,221 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 62.5% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,446,000 after purchasing an additional 6,302,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,747,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $842,122,000 after purchasing an additional 132,846 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $66.48 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $111.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.45. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.82 and a 52 week high of $70.51. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.58.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.33.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.