Altria Group, Inc. $MO Stock Position Lifted by Monument Capital Management

Key Points

• Monument Capital Management increased its stake in Altria Group by 131.7% during the second quarter, resulting in ownership of 12,533 shares worth $735,000.
• Altria Group recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.06, reflecting a 6.5% yield, up from the previous dividend of $1.02.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Altria Group, with Bank of America setting a new target at $72.00, maintaining a "buy" rating.

Monument Capital Management boosted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 131.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,533 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,125 shares during the period. Monument Capital Management's holdings in Altria Group were worth $735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Bank of America lifted their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised 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 report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.11.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO opened at $65.72 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $48.86 and a one year high of $68.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.13. The stock has a market cap of $110.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.55.

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 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 firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. The company'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. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Altria Group's payout ratio is 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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