Sterling Investment Management LLC Buys New Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Sterling Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 13,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $902,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 62.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,446,000 after purchasing an additional 6,302,819 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $126,471,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 97.0% during the 1st 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 position in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,364,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $87,445,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of MO stock opened at $57.75 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.67. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.08 and a 52 week high of $68.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.48.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.89% and a negative return on equity of 319.43%. The company had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’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. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be issued a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.3%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price 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. Four equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Profile

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.