Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Acquired by Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,751 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,580 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 226.3% during the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $56.45 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $65.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.86. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.08 and a 1 year high of $68.60. The company has a market capitalization of $94.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly 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. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.5%. 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. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

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.