3,501 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. $MO Acquired by Client First Capital LLC

Client First Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000. Altria Group makes up about 0.1% of Client First Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,490,196,000 after buying an additional 1,300,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,592,000 after buying an additional 3,483,487 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,724,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,620,229,000 after acquiring an additional 764,221 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 8,146.4% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,122,290,000 after acquiring an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $734,827,000 after acquiring an additional 441,083 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced 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 report on Friday, October 31st. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $58.09 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $50.08 and a one year high of $68.60. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $63.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.85. The company has a market capitalization of $97.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. Equities research analysts expect 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 $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.3%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 80.92%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Company 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.