Advisors Asset Management Inc. Sells 11,553 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Altria Group by 3.7%, selling 11,553 shares and owning 299,574 shares valued at approximately $17.98 million.
• Altria Group announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.06 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $4.24 and a yield of 6.3%.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Altria Group, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of about $60.88.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 299,574 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,553 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $17,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 51.8% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.88.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded down $0.92 during trading on Monday, hitting $65.63. 3,529,637 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,958,725. The stock has a market cap of $110.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $62.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.78. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 78.92%.

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.