9,119 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. $MO Purchased by Montecito Bank & Trust

Montecito Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 9,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $602,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MO. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 62.5% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,446,000 after purchasing an additional 6,302,819 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter worth $126,471,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Altria Group by 184.6% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,095,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,800,000 after buying an additional 2,007,859 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 97.0% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,968,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,180,000 after buying an additional 1,953,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,364,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,923 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $58.40 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.08 and a 1-year high of $68.60. The firm has a market cap of $98.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.71.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.89% and a negative return on equity of 319.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 80.92%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MO. UBS Group reduced their price target on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Four investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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.