Westpac Banking Corp Has $744,000 Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Westpac Banking Corp cut its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 31.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,692 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,694 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 6.2% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 192,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,557,000 after acquiring an additional 11,235 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $240,000. SNS Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $221,000. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $332,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price 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. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $58.17. The stock had a trading volume of 768,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,878,701. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.87. The firm has a market cap of $97.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.08 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company 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 announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given 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 7.3%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 80.92%.

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.