15,235 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. $MO Purchased by WESPAC Advisors LLC

Key Points

• WESPAC Advisors LLC has acquired 15,235 shares of Altria Group, valued at approximately $893,000, indicating growing interest from institutional investors in the company's stock.
• Altria Group has increased its quarterly dividend from $1.02 to $1.06 per share, demonstrating a commitment to returning capital to shareholders.
• The company's latest earnings report revealed an EPS of $1.44 for the quarter, surpassing estimates and reflecting a slight revenue increase year-over-year.

WESPAC Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 15,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $893,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 4,653 shares of the company's stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 616 shares during the period. Pure Portfolios Holdings LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pure Portfolios Holdings LLC now owns 7,377 shares of the company's stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the period. REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 56.9% in the 2nd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 921 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Cortland Associates Inc. MO boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cortland Associates Inc. MO now owns 18,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,093,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,699 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $66.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $111.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.04. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $48.86 and a one year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. Altria Group's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MO shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.11.

Altria Group Company 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.

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