South Dakota Investment Council Trims Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 210,595 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,457 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $12,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MO. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $126,471,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth $1,715,000. Invst LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 252.0% in the 1st quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $972,000 after buying an additional 11,589 shares during the period. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 79,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,633,000 after buying an additional 4,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 17.4% during the second quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,086,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,676,000 after acquiring an additional 161,356 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Four investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $56.45 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s fifty day moving average is $65.11 and its 200 day moving average is $61.92. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.08 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. The business’s 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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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 given a $1.06 dividend. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.92%.

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.