National Pension Service Buys 81,309 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,500,565 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 81,309 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $263,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 10.3% during the first quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 5.0% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 33,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in Altria Group by 6.1% in the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 71,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,321,000 after purchasing an additional 4,152 shares during the period. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter worth $320,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $58.43 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $98.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $50.08 and a one year high of $68.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $63.80 and its 200 day moving average is $61.88.

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 the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $1.06 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.3%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 80.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.33.

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.