Welch & Forbes LLC Purchases 2,057 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,984 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,057 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $115,000. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 10,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 45,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,735,000 after purchasing an additional 8,939 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of MO stock opened at $56.45 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $50.08 and a 12 month high of $68.60. The firm has a market cap of $94.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $65.11 and a 200-day moving average of $61.92.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.5%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.92%.

Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.