Denali Advisors LLC Buys 14,723 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Denali Advisors LLC increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. by 11.9%, acquiring an additional 14,723 shares, bringing its total to 137,962 shares. The investment is now valued at $8,089,000.
• Altria recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.06 per share, an increase from the previous $1.02, resulting in an annualized dividend of $4.24 and a yield of 6.6%.
• Analysts have a mixed outlook on Altria, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.11, while several firms have lifted their target prices to $72.00.

Denali Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 137,962 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 14,723 shares during the period. Altria Group comprises 0.8% of Denali Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Denali Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Jacobsen Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $201,000. Retirement Planning Group LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 7.3% in the second quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 18,196 shares of the company's stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in Altria Group by 17.7% in the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 357,324 shares of the company's stock worth $20,950,000 after purchasing an additional 53,709 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 3.7% in the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 235,286 shares of the company's stock worth $13,795,000 after purchasing an additional 8,373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Family Office LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 22.9% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Family Office LLC now owns 5,045 shares of the company's stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 940 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MO. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.11.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $63.77 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.16 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60. The firm has a market cap of $107.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group's payout ratio is 82.01%.

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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