SCS Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 10,700 Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• SCS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group, purchasing 10,700 shares valued at approximately $649,000 in the first quarter.
• Altria Group has increased its quarterly dividend to $1.06 per share, up from $1.02, resulting in a 6.4% dividend yield.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" on Altria Group, with an average price target of $60.88.

SCS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $649,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,490,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 worth $3,798,592,000 after acquiring an additional 3,483,487 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company's stock worth $1,122,290,000 after acquiring an additional 18,471,846 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company's stock worth $734,827,000 after acquiring an additional 441,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company's stock worth $717,913,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415,237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $66.26 on Thursday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $63.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The business's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Altria Group's payout ratio is presently 78.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MO. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.88.

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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