Altria Group, Inc. $MO Position Lessened by Pinnacle Associates Ltd.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,003 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,003 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 4.8% in the second quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 56,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,327,000 after acquiring an additional 2,580 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 40.4% in the second quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $949,000 after acquiring an additional 4,653 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its position in Altria Group by 6.3% in the second quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 532,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,217,000 after acquiring an additional 31,713 shares in the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth approximately $572,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its position in Altria Group by 6.7% in the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 105,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,169,000 after acquiring an additional 6,588 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $56.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $94.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $65.11 and its 200-day moving average is $61.89. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.08 and a 52-week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.25 billion for 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%.The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last 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, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.92%.

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.