Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 327,429 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 85.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 712,415 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 327,429 shares during the period. Altria Group makes up about 0.6% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $41,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $126,471,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth $1,715,000. Invst LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 252.0% during the first quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $972,000 after buying an additional 11,589 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.5% during the second quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 79,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,633,000 after purchasing an additional 4,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% during the second quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,086,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,676,000 after acquiring an additional 161,356 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO opened at $58.02 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.16 and a 200-day moving average of $61.89. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $50.08 and a one year high of $68.60. The company has a market cap of $97.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. Analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.3%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 80.92%.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Company 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.