Mattson Financial Services LLC Makes New $1.19 Million Investment in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 17,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,185,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 62.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $954,446,000 after buying an additional 6,302,819 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth approximately $126,471,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 97.0% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,968,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,953,966 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,364,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $87,445,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of MO stock opened at $57.60 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $50.08 and a 12 month high of $68.60. The stock has a market cap of $96.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.70.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share 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 net margin of 37.89% and a negative return on equity of 319.43%. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.4%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.92%.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.