Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Sold by GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.

Key Points

• GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. reduced its position in Altria Group shares by 2.2%, owning 338,043 shares worth approximately $19.8 million after selling 7,744 shares in the 2nd quarter.
• Several institutional investors aggressively increased their stakes in Altria Group, with GQG Partners LLC growing its stake by 8,146.4% in the 1st quarter.
• Altria Group has raised its quarterly dividend to $1.06 per share, representing an annualized yield of 6.4%, with a payout ratio of 82.01%.

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 338,043 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,744 shares during the period. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $19,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 18,471,846 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 3,483,487 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 3,415,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 111.3% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company's stock worth $333,606,000 after buying an additional 2,928,006 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on MO shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $66.54 on Friday. 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 PE ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.55. The business's 50 day moving average price is $65.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.22.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly 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 forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.06 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group's 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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