Ascent Group LLC Has $8.14 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. by 53.8% during the first quarter, owning a total of 135,656 shares valued at approximately $8.14 million.
• Altria Group announced a quarterly dividend of $1.06 per share, which represents a 6.4% yield and is an increase from the previous dividend of $1.02.
• The company released better-than-expected earnings with $1.44 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and projected a fiscal year 2025 EPS in the range of $5.350-$5.450.

Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 53.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 135,656 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,470 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vista Investment Partners II LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the company's stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 9,452 shares of the company's stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% during the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 12,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.7% in the first quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,762 shares of the company's stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 4,721 shares of the company's stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price target 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 upped their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.88.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:MO traded up $0.17 on Thursday, hitting $66.40. 10,018,628 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,003,779. The company has a market cap of $111.54 billion, a PE ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.94.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 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 revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $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 fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $1.06 dividend. This is an increase from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. Altria Group's payout ratio is 78.92%.

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.