Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC Buys 18,464 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 11.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 174,821 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,464 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $10,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 62.5% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $954,446,000 after purchasing an additional 6,302,819 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 111.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,606,000 after buying an additional 2,928,006 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth $126,471,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 184.6% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,095,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,800,000 after purchasing an additional 2,007,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 97.0% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,968,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953,966 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. UBS Group cut their target price on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Bank of America upped their target price on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Four equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $58.76 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.08 and a 52 week high of $68.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.48 and a 200-day moving average of $61.76.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 319.43% and a net margin of 37.89%.The business had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 80.92%.

Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Altria Group

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.