Beacon Financial Group Lowers Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Beacon Financial Group sold 4,575 shares of Altria Group, reducing its stake by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter, now holding a total of 82,028 shares valued at approximately $4.8 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Altria Group, with GQG Partners raising its stake by an extraordinary 8,146.4%, acquiring additional shares worth over $1 billion.
• Altria Group has recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.06 per share, a raise from the previous $1.02, providing a dividend yield of 6.5% with a payout ratio of approximately 78.92%.

Beacon Financial Group lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,028 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,575 shares during the quarter. Beacon Financial Group's holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company's stock worth $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 5.8% in 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Altria Group by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company's stock worth $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 111.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company's stock worth $333,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,928,006 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MO shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays boosted 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.88.

Altria Group Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of MO opened at $64.85 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $63.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a PEG ratio of 3.58 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The firm 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group's payout ratio is presently 78.92%.

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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