Rovin Capital UT ADV Sells 4,638 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Rovin Capital UT ADV decreased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 37.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,811 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,638 shares during the period. Rovin Capital UT ADV’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter worth $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 51.8% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc increased its stake in Altria Group by 64.4% in the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 717 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on MO. UBS Group dropped 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, October 31st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $57.24 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $64.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.84. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.08 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

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 issued a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.4%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.92%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.