Altria Group, Inc. $MO Stock Position Decreased by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 732,064 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,240 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $42,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MO. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. Armis Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $312,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,905,000. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $166,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on MO shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.88.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $64.83 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $64.13 and a 200-day moving average of $60.53. The firm has a market cap of $108.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.01%.

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.