Arista Wealth Management LLC Takes $881,000 Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Arista Wealth Management LLC has acquired a new position in Altria Group, purchasing 15,019 shares valued at approximately $881,000 in the second quarter.
• Altria Group recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.06 per share, which represents an annualized yield of 6.6% and is up from the previous $1.02 dividend.
• Analyst price targets for Altria Group vary, with Barclays raising their target to $57.00 and Goldman Sachs increasing it to $72.00, reflecting a consensus average target price of $62.11.

Arista Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 15,019 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $881,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company's stock worth $9,490,196,000 after buying an additional 1,300,787 shares during the period. 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 period. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $1,122,290,000 after buying an additional 18,471,846 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 3.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company's stock valued at $734,827,000 after acquiring an additional 441,083 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% in 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. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.11.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $64.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $107.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.86 and a 12-month high of $68.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.88 and a 200 day moving average of $61.37.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.6%. This is an increase from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

About Altria Group

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.