Spire Wealth Management Sells 10,035 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Spire Wealth Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 34.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,021 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,035 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 25.9% in the second quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 6,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 48.4% in the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 144,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,464,000 after acquiring an additional 47,093 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.4% in the second quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 45,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 29,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.5% during the second quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 79,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,633,000 after purchasing an additional 4,149 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Bank of America boosted 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $56.45 on Friday. The stock 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 $61.86. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $50.08 and a one year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The firm 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 company earned $1.38 earnings per share. The business’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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors 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 purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.