Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC Lowers Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 21.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,737 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,326 shares during the period. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $278,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,798,592,000 after buying an additional 3,483,487 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Altria Group by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,913,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 111.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,928,006 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $58.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.86. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.08 and a 1-year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 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 purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MO. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.