American National Bank & Trust Grows Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

American National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 157.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,656 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 10,175 shares during the quarter. American National Bank & Trust's holdings in Altria Group were worth $977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 226.3% during the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $65.20 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $64.40 and a 200-day moving average of $60.60. The company has a market cap of $109.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.59. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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%. Altria Group's quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Altria Group's payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.88.

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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