3,961 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. $MO Bought by Smith Asset Management Co. LLC

Key Points

• Smith Asset Management Co. LLC purchased 3,961 shares of Altria Group, Inc. worth approximately $238,000, marking a significant move by the institution in the first quarter.
• Altria Group recently increased its quarterly dividend from $1.02 to $1.06 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 6.4% and reflecting a payout ratio of 78.92%.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Altria Group, with Barclays and Morgan Stanley setting target prices of $57.00 and $62.00 respectively, while the consensus target price stands at $60.88.

Smith Asset Management Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,961 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 88.5% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company's stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 4,007 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,440 shares during the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 12.2% in the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 12,217 shares of the company's stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 152.2% in the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 58,268 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,497,000 after purchasing an additional 35,168 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MO. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Two 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.com, Altria Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.88.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $65.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $110.49 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.85. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.86 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. Altria Group's payout ratio is 78.92%.

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.

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