Empowered Funds LLC Raises Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 413,566 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,494 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $24,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 26,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,581,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management grew its stake in Altria Group by 3.1% during the second quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 5,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Alliance LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on MO. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America increased their target price on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $58.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $97.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $50.08 and a one year high of $68.60. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.86.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business 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. 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 7.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.92%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication 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.