LVW Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• LVW Advisors LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 7.3%, now owning 77,161 shares valued at approximately $4.52 million.
• Altria recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.06 per share, reflecting a 6.5% yield, up from its previous dividend of $1.02.
• Analysts have mixed views on Altria, with two giving it a "Buy" rating while the consensus rating remains a "Hold" with an average price target of $60.88.

LVW Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 7.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,161 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,258 shares during the quarter. Altria Group makes up about 0.5% of LVW Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. LVW Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company's stock worth $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter worth $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.8% in the first 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 40.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $717,913,000 after buying an additional 3,415,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 111.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $333,606,000 after buying an additional 2,928,006 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.88.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $65.67 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month high of $68.60. The firm has a market cap of $110.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $64.55 and a 200-day moving average of $60.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm'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. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. 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.

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