Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Cuts Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 881,793 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,079 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $45,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Delta Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.9% during the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 18.5% during the second quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $57.32 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $97.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.63. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday. Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.33.

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.