Tradewinds LLC. Acquires New Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Tradewinds LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 14,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $986,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 86.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.5% in the second quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8.0% during the second quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 4,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,790,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MO. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $61.00 to $63.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.56.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO opened at $61.84 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $103.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.47. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $50.08 and a 12 month high of $68.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.35 and a 200-day moving average of $61.58.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its 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. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.89% and a negative return on equity of 319.43%. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.92%.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.