Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Purchased by CHICAGO TRUST Co NA

Key Points

• CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its stake in Altria Group by 145.7% during the second quarter, owning 27,419 shares valued at approximately $1.6 million.
• Altria Group recently raised its quarterly dividend from $1.02 to $1.06 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 6.6%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" for Altria Group, with an average price target of $60.88, influenced by various recent upgrades and downgrades from research firms.

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 145.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,419 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,260 shares during the quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA's holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company's stock worth $9,490,196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 8,146.4% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company's stock worth $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Altria Group by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company's stock worth $734,827,000 after purchasing an additional 441,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Altria Group by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company's stock worth $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.88.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $63.80 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $107.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $64.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.50. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS 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 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Altria Group's payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

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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