Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Acquired by Corient Private Wealth LLC

Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 511,981 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,975 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $30,023,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. CacheTech Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $273,000. Adams Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,613,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,579,000 after purchasing an additional 2,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 20.7% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,392,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,994,000 after purchasing an additional 238,487 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:MO opened at $59.41 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.76. The stock has a market cap of $99.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.48. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.08 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.89% and a negative return on equity of 319.43%. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.92%.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Four equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.