Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Bought by Allianz SE

Allianz SE grew its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,515 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,845 shares during the quarter. Allianz SE’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Compass Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 64.4% during the first quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 717 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $44,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MO. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group decreased 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $57.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.08 and a 52-week high of $68.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.82.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board 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 paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. 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. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.3%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 80.92%.

Altria Group 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.