BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 286,576 shares of the company's stock after selling 42,412 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Altria Group were worth $14,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after purchasing an additional 589,832 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $562,793,000 after purchasing an additional 191,236 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 25.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company's stock worth $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company's stock worth $230,510,000 after acquiring an additional 243,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company's stock worth $222,655,000 after acquiring an additional 215,594 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.
MO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.33.
View Our Latest Report on MO
Altria Group stock opened at $57.74 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $97.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.13.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.
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.
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