LSV Asset Management Has $308.25 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

LSV Asset Management reduced its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,257,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 352,174 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned about 0.31% of Altria Group worth $308,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MO. Intrust Bank NA boosted its position in Altria Group by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 22,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 1,982 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 12.0% in the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 25,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,761 shares in the last quarter. Poehling Capital Management INC. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 4.5% during the second quarter. Poehling Capital Management INC. now owns 32,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,884,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Altria Group by 3.0% in the second quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 748,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,872,000 after purchasing an additional 21,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Slagle Financial LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 78,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,582,000 after buying an additional 5,214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, 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 research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Four research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $58.15 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $97.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $63.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.87. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $50.08 and a one year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion during 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%. Altria Group’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $1.06 dividend. 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. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.3%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.92%.

Altria Group announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs 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.