Ameriprise Financial Inc. Buys 118,146 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.2% during the first quarter, owning over 10 million shares valued at nearly $599 million.
• Altria Group recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.06 per share, resulting in an annual dividend yield of 6.3%, marking an increase from the previous dividend of $1.02.
• The company's latest quarterly earnings surpassed expectations with $1.44 earnings per share, higher than the consensus estimate of $1.37, and a revenue of $5.29 billion.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,092,251 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 118,146 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.60% of Altria Group worth $598,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MO. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 6,954 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Altria Group by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,026,736 shares of the company's stock worth $210,559,000 after acquiring an additional 595,230 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 44,476 shares of the company's stock worth $2,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,410 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 100.7% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 5,974 shares of the company's stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 2,997 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 92,801 shares of the company's stock worth $4,853,000 after acquiring an additional 4,701 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock traded down $0.0650 during trading on Friday, reaching $67.6150. The company had a trading volume of 9,600,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,618,873. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $61.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.81. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $48.86 and a one year high of $68.60. The company has a market capitalization of $113.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.08, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.59.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. The firm's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.00.

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.