Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Purchased by PFG Advisors

PFG Advisors raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 40.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,538 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,729 shares during the period. PFG Advisors’ holdings in Altria Group were worth $559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,122,290,000 after buying an additional 18,471,846 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 111.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,928,006 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $58.43 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.08 and a 52 week high of $68.60. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $63.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.88. The company has a market cap of $98.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.30, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $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 year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.33.

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.