Integrity Alliance LLC. Increases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Integrity Alliance LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 207.5% in Q1, owning 22,907 shares valued at $1,375,000 after adding 15,457 shares during the period.
• Several institutional investors have also boosted their holdings, with GQG Partners LLC leading the charge by increasing its stake by 8,146.4%, now owning over 18 million shares worth approximately $1.12 billion.
• Altria Group recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $1.02 to $1.06, providing a yield of 6.4% based on an annualized payout of $4.24 per share.

Integrity Alliance LLC. lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 207.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,907 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 15,457 shares during the quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 18,471,846 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company's stock worth $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 111.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company's stock worth $333,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,928,006 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MO shares. Bank of America increased their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $60.88.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $66.26 on Thursday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $63.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.94. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.86 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60. The company has a market cap of $111.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group's quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $1.06 dividend. This is an increase from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 78.92%.

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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