Advisors Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. by 19.4% during the first quarter, owning a total of 419,322 shares valued at $25.17 million.
• The quarterly dividend for Altria Group has been raised to $1.06 per share, which represents a 6.4% dividend yield.
• Several analysts have differing opinions on Altria's stock, with target prices ranging from $47.00 to $72.00, resulting in a consensus rating of "Hold".

Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 19.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 419,322 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 68,063 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $25,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 226.3% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.88.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $66.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $111.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.86 and a 1-year high of $68.60. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $63.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.94.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $5.29 billion for 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%. The company's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This is an increase from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. 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.

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