Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Sold by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 13.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,023 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,674 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,798,592,000 after buying an additional 3,483,487 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Altria Group by 40.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,913,000 after buying an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 111.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,606,000 after buying an additional 2,928,006 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $58.02 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $64.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.89. The stock has a market cap of $97.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.08 and a 1-year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released 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. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.3%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.92%.

Altria Group announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Bank of America raised their target price 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

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.