Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Has $2.94 Million Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,140 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,135 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 6,954 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 235.7% during the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 14,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 10,454 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 7.7% during the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 6,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 395,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,008,000 after purchasing an additional 6,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 42,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,565,000 after purchasing an additional 2,791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $57.24 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.08 and a 52-week high of $68.60. The company has a market capitalization of $96.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.84.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%.Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.4%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target 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. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Bank of America increased their price objective 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 target price on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.33.

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.