7,275 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. $MO Acquired by BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC

Key Points

• BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC acquired 7,275 shares of Altria Group, Inc., valued at approximately $427,000, marking a new investment in the company.
• Altria Group recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.44, exceeding expectations, and has set its FY 2025 guidance between $5.350 and $5.450 EPS.
• The company has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.06, representing a yield of 6.5%, with a payout ratio of 82.01%.

BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $427,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 226.3% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:MO opened at $65.70 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.86 and a 12 month high of $68.60. The company has a market cap of $110.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.93.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. This is a positive change from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.11.

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.

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