Gradient Investments LLC Invests $14.89 Million in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Gradient Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 225,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,891,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 43.0% in the second quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. now owns 13,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 3,908 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $126,471,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 31.5% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 97,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,710,000 after purchasing an additional 23,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,388,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $59.41 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $60.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.76. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $50.08 and a 12 month high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. The business 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 37.89% and a negative return on equity of 319.43%. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be given a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 80.92%.

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

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.