Ritholtz Wealth Management Buys 14,267 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in Altria Group by 8.6%, acquiring an additional 14,267 shares, bringing their total ownership to 179,377 shares valued at approximately $10.5 million.
• Analysts have recently boosted their price targets for Altria Group, with Goldman Sachs raising it from $65.00 to $72.00 and Bank of America increasing theirs from $64.00 to $72.00, indicating a strong buy sentiment.
• Altria Group declared a quarterly dividend of $1.06 per share, marking a rise from the previous $1.02, with a dividend yield of 6.5% and a payout ratio of 82.01%.

Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 179,377 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,267 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Altria Group were worth $10,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $65.41 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $65.83 and a 200-day moving average of $61.32. 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 $109.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue 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, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. This is an increase from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 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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