Savvy Advisors Inc. Increases Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 13.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,492 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,150 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter worth $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter worth $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 226.3% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 51.8% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Down 7.7%

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $57.17 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.86. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.08 and a 52 week high of $68.60. The company has a market cap of $96.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 7.4%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MO. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.11.

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.