Cullen Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Cullen Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,617,603 shares of the company’s stock after selling 264,707 shares during the quarter. Altria Group accounts for 1.7% of Cullen Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $153,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Country Trust Bank increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $58.76 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $60.48 and its 200 day moving average is $61.76. The firm has a market cap of $98.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.48. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.08 and a 52-week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue 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. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors 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 dividend payout ratio is 80.92%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in 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 an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.