Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Reduces Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 13.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,527 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,955 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of MO opened at $58.15 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $97.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $63.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.87. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.08 and a 52 week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. The firm’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 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.3%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.92%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.