Center for Financial Planning Inc. Raises Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Center for Financial Planning Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,842 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 26,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,581,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management raised its position in Altria Group by 3.1% during the second quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 5,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 1.6% during the second quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $655,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 9,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 12,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.2%

MO opened at $56.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $94.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $65.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.86. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $50.08 and a 12 month high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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 dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.5%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.