Sax Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $303,000 in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Sax Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake of 5,048 shares in Altria Group, valued at approximately $303,000, during the first quarter of the year.
• Altria Group recently increased its quarterly dividend from $1.02 to $1.06 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 6.3%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Altria Group, with two ratings as Buy, five as Hold, and two as Sell, and an average price target of $60.00.

Sax Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company's stock worth $9,490,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,798,592,000 after buying an additional 3,483,487 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew 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 buying an additional 18,471,846 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company's stock worth $734,827,000 after buying an additional 441,083 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.88.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO traded up $0.64 during trading on Friday, reaching $67.06. 3,471,747 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,036,802. 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 $112.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $61.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.14.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 6.3%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.