Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Boosts Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its stake in Altria Group by 132.5% in the second quarter, owning a total of 8,990 shares valued at approximately $538,000.
• Analysts are optimistic about Altria Group, with several firms raising their target prices for the stock, reaching up to $72.00, and a mix of ratings including several "buy" ratings.
• Altria Group recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.06, up from $1.02, providing an annualized yield of 6.6% and a payout ratio of 82.01%.

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. raised its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 132.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,990 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,124 shares during the quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% during 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 stake in Altria Group in the first quarter worth $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in 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. lifted its position in Altria Group by 40.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 111.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group raised Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $64.35 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.58 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60. The company has a market cap of $108.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.55. The business's 50 day moving average price is $65.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. Altria Group'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. Sell-side analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.6%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.