Brookstone Capital Management Sells 11,070 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Brookstone Capital Management reduced its position in Altria Group by 9.7%, selling 11,070 shares during the second quarter, resulting in total holdings of 103,438 shares valued at approximately $6.07 million.
• Altria Group announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.06 per share, which represents an annualized yield of 6.6% based on an 82.01% dividend payout ratio.
• The company reported earnings of $1.44 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a slight revenue increase of 0.2% from the same period last year.

Brookstone Capital Management lowered its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,438 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,070 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company's stock worth $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 5,440 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 11,635 shares of the company's stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 29,056 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,744,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 130.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 7,278 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $64.62 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $49.58 and a one year high of $68.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts' expectations of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The business's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 issued a $1.06 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.11.

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.

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