Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Buys 6,604 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 33,948 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,604 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,490,196,000 after buying an additional 1,300,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,592,000 after acquiring an additional 3,483,487 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,724,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,620,229,000 after acquiring an additional 764,221 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $734,827,000 after purchasing an additional 441,083 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1%

MO opened at $58.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $50.08 and a twelve month high of $68.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.86.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group dropped their price objective 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.33.

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.