Altria Group, Inc. $MO Stake Lowered by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,614,982 shares of the company’s stock after selling 619,097 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $739,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $56.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $64.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.91. The firm has a market cap of $95.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.95, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.08 and a 1 year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. The firm 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.5%. 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 dividend payout ratio is 80.92%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Altria Group

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.