Ethos Financial Group LLC Has $1.28 Million Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Ethos Financial Group LLC decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,828 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,843 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 51.8% during 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, Compass Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 64.4% during the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 717 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.1%

Altria Group stock opened at $57.24 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.08 and a 1-year high of $68.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $64.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.84.

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

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.06 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 80.92%.

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.