Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Bought by Wealth Quarterback LLC

Wealth Quarterback LLC increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,167 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,059 shares during the quarter. Wealth Quarterback LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO opened at $58.43 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.08 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $63.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.88. The firm has a market cap of $98.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly 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 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 quarter in the prior 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 expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.3%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

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.