Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Bought by Bellecapital International Ltd.

Key Points

• Bellecapital International Ltd. increased its stake in Altria Group by 7.4%, owning 70,161 shares worth approximately $4.11 million after acquiring 4,819 additional shares.
• Altria Group reported earnings of $1.44 per share, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.37, with revenue reaching $5.29 billion in the last quarter.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.06 per share, marking a yield of 6.5% compared to the previous dividend of $1.02.

Bellecapital International Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 7.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 70,161 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 4,819 shares during the period. Bellecapital International Ltd.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth about $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company's stock worth $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $717,913,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 111.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $333,606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,928,006 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $64.91 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $65.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.34. The company has a market capitalization of $109.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.86 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group'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. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. This is a positive change from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group's payout ratio is 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MO. 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 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.11.

Altria Group 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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