Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Purchased by Blair William & Co. IL

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Altria Group by 4.9% in Q2, owning 192,290 shares valued at approximately $11.27 million.
• Altria Group raised its quarterly dividend to $1.06 per share, up from $1.02, representing a 6.4% yield.
• Several analysts have updated their ratings, with Barclays setting a price objective of $57.00 and Goldman Sachs raising it to $72.00, underpinning varied market sentiment.

Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 192,290 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,940 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Altria Group were worth $11,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 104.6% during the second quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV now owns 40,726 shares of the company's stock worth $2,388,000 after purchasing an additional 20,821 shares in the last quarter. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth $55,000. Leo Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 111.3% in the second quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 18,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,070,000 after acquiring an additional 9,615 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.7% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 585,208 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,311,000 after acquiring an additional 15,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 8.0% in the second quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 188,407 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,046,000 after acquiring an additional 13,940 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $66.54 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.20. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $48.86 and a one year high of $68.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business'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. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

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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