Altria Group, Inc. $MO Holdings Boosted by Prospera Financial Services Inc

Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 13.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 93,757 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,812 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 26,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,581,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Bar Harbor Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.1% during the second quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 5,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Alliance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 9,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $58.02 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $64.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.86. The company has a market capitalization of $97.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.08 and a 1-year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MO. 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.