Farther Finance Advisors LLC Has $5.62 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 98.3%, purchasing an additional 47,500 shares during the second quarter, bringing its total to 95,833 shares valued at approximately $5.62 million.
• Altria Group has recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.06 per share, reflecting a 6.5% yield, which marks an increase from its previous dividend of $1.02.
• The company's latest earnings report showed a better-than-expected EPS of $1.44 against a consensus estimate of $1.37, with revenue reaching $5.29 billion.

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 98.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,833 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 47,500 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company's stock worth $9,490,196,000 after buying an additional 1,300,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% during 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 last quarter. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,122,290,000 after buying an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 3.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company's stock valued at $734,827,000 after buying an additional 441,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 40.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company's stock worth $717,913,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America lifted their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.88.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $64.85. 22,701,500 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,889,683. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.86 and a 52-week high of $68.60. The firm has a market cap of $108.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $63.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.45.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.Altria Group's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

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.