Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Bought by CreativeOne Wealth LLC

Key Points

• CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 23.3%, owning 191,753 shares valued at approximately $11.5 million.
• Altria Group reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.44 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates, along with a slight revenue increase of 0.2% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.06, reflecting a 6.4% yield and an increase from its previous dividend of $1.02.

CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 23.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 191,753 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 36,189 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $11,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 88.5% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company's stock worth $512,000 after acquiring an additional 4,007 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% in the fourth 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. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company's stock worth $2,162,000 after buying an additional 5,440 shares in the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 12.2% in the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 12,217 shares of the company's stock worth $733,000 after buying an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 152.2% in the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 58,268 shares of the company's stock worth $3,497,000 after buying an additional 35,168 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.88.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $67.21. The stock had a trading volume of 5,929,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,053,823. The stock has a market cap of $112.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.14. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.86 and a 1 year 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 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. Altria Group's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $1.06 dividend. 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 6.3%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 78.92%.

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.