70,057 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. $MO Acquired by Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC

Key Points

• Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired 70,057 shares of Altria Group, Inc., valued at approximately $3.79 million, in the second quarter.
• Altria Group has increased its quarterly dividend from $1.02 to $1.06 per share, representing a 6.5% yield.
• The company's latest earnings report showed an EPS of $1.44, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $5.29 billion, marking a slight year-over-year increase.

Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 70,057 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,790,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 226.3% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.4%

MO opened at $64.85 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.43. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.86 and a 52 week high of $68.60. The company has a market capitalization of $108.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.88.

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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