Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Buys 8,373 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 3.7% in Q2, purchasing an additional 8,373 shares, bringing their total to 235,286 shares valued at approximately $13.8 million.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Altria Group, with price targets ranging from $49.00 to $72.00 and an average consensus rating of "Hold".
• Altria Group recently increased its quarterly dividend from $1.02 to $1.06 per share, resulting in a dividend yield of 6.6% and a payout ratio of 82.01%.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 235,286 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,373 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $13,795,000 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. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% during the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of 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 shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $64.35 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.56. The company has a market capitalization of $108.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.58 and a 52-week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 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 revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last 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 forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

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