HBW Advisory Services LLC Lowers Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• HBW Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. by 10% in Q2, after selling 6,217 shares, leaving them with a holding valued at approximately $3.29 million.
• Altria Group recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.06 per share, reflecting a 6.4% yield, which is up from the previous dividend of $1.02.
• Analysts have set a mixed outlook for Altria Group, with price targets ranging from $50 to $72, resulting in an average rating of "Hold" for the stock.

HBW Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 10.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,099 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,217 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 76,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,982,000 after purchasing an additional 3,883 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 175,128 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,177,000 after purchasing an additional 13,067 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 150,445 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,867,000 after purchasing an additional 37,858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 248,113 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,974,000 after purchasing an additional 30,668 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased 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. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.88.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO opened at $66.64 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $63.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.09. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.86 and a 1 year high of $68.60. The company has a market cap of $111.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given 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 yield of 6.4%. This is an increase from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group's payout ratio is 78.92%.

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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