Hikari Power Ltd Reduces Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Hikari Power Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 238,210 shares of the company’s stock after selling 58,900 shares during the period. Altria Group accounts for approximately 1.2% of Hikari Power Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Hikari Power Ltd’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $13,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $126,471,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,715,000. Invst LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 252.0% in the 1st quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $972,000 after purchasing an additional 11,589 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 17.4% in the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,086,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,676,000 after purchasing an additional 161,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Members Trust Co acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $227,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $64.72 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.76. The company has a market capitalization of $108.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.58 and a 1 year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

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.