National Pension Service Purchases 215,694 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

National Pension Service lifted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,716,259 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 215,694 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.28% of Altria Group worth $311,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 335,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,158,000 after acquiring an additional 26,624 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,522,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,677,000 after purchasing an additional 44,303 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,364,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,923 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $126,471,000. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 155.4% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 31,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,062,000 after purchasing an additional 18,997 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Altria Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Altria Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management says price increases and cost discipline are boosting margins and full‑year profit is forecast above estimates, supporting near‑term cash generation. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Altria keeps returning capital: high dividend (long streak of increases), buybacks and a progressive dividend policy remain central to the investment case and attract income buyers. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Company continues to push smoke‑free products (on! pouches, NJOY integration) and emphasizes innovation to offset falling cigarette volumes — a long‑term growth narrative for investors. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: FY2026 EPS guidance of $5.56–$5.72 is essentially in line with consensus, leaving limited surprise risk but not a clear catalyst to re-rate the shares. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Stifel trimmed its price target from $72 to $68 but maintained a buy rating — shows some analyst support despite tempered upside. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 adjusted EPS of $1.30 missed consensus ($1.32) and cigarette shipment volumes fell ~10%; smokeable revenue pressure and smoke‑free weakness drove the initial selloff. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory, volume trends and company filings highlighting leverage/negative ROE raise longer‑term execution and balance‑sheet scrutiny among some investors. Read More.

Altria Group Trading Up 3.7%

Shares of MO stock opened at $61.97 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.47. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.30 and a 12-month high of $68.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $59.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.75.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a net margin of 29.84% and a negative return on equity of 287.61%. The firm had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were given a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 80.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MO. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.56.

Altria Group Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.