Baird Financial Group Inc. Raises Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 8.5%, acquiring an additional 36,974 shares, bringing their total holdings to 470,493 shares valued at approximately $28.2 million.
• Altria Group plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $1.06 per share, up from the previous $1.02, representing an annualized yield of 6.3%.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a $1.44 EPS, exceeding estimates, with revenues of $5.29 billion for the quarter, reflecting a 0.2% year-over-year increase.

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 8.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 470,493 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,974 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $28,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 226.3% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 51.8% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.1%

MO stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $66.58. The stock had a trading volume of 6,347,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,011,140. The firm has a market cap of $111.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $62.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MO shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.