Public Sector Pension Investment Board Acquires 6,800 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,830 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,800 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Altria Group by 7.7% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 635,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,450,000 after purchasing an additional 45,407 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 121,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,219,000 after buying an additional 37,180 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 1,438,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,424,000 after buying an additional 330,105 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 74,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,807,000 after acquiring an additional 12,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shum Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter worth $340,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $57.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $96.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.16.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MO. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

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.