Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,225,720 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 213,698 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.19% of Altria Group worth $189,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $126,471,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,715,000. Invst LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 252.0% during the first quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $972,000 after purchasing an additional 11,589 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.5% during the second quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 79,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,633,000 after purchasing an additional 4,149 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 17.4% in the second quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,086,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,676,000 after purchasing an additional 161,356 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MO. Bank of America increased their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on 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. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective 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. Four equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of MO opened at $58.02 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.86. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.08 and a 52 week high of $68.60. The stock has a market cap of $97.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The company had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. The firm’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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.3%. 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 presently 80.92%.

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.