Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Sold by Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 22.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,435 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,201 shares during the quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% during the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 51.8% during the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $56.45 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.89. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.08 and a 52 week high of $68.60. The company has a market cap of $94.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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 decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.33.

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.