Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. Increases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 19.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,372 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $432,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $126,471,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth $1,715,000. Invst LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 252.0% during the first quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $972,000 after acquiring an additional 11,589 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at $5,388,000. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $58.97 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $62.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.85. The company has a market cap of $98.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.41, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $50.08 and a one year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.2%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

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.