Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 213,698 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,225,720 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 213,698 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $189,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in Altria Group by 13.0% during the second quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 93,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 10,812 shares in the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $883,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 17,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 54,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,428 shares during the period. Finally, Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 588.5% during the 2nd quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 17,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:MO opened at $58.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $97.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $50.08 and a twelve month high of $68.60. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.86.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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 given a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.3%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 80.92%.

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.