Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Has $8 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Altria Group, elevating its holdings to $8 million after acquiring 7,327 additional shares, bringing the total to 133,198 shares.
• Altria Group reported a Q2 earnings per share of $1.44, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.37, while revenue reached $5.29 billion.
• Currently, the company's stock is rated as a "Hold" by analysts, with price targets ranging from $50.00 to $65.00, indicating a mix of cautious optimism and skepticism in the market.

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 133,198 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,327 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 226.3% during the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO traded down $0.0650 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $67.6150. 9,600,585 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,618,873. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month high of $68.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.07 and a 200 day moving average of $58.76. The stock has a market cap of $113.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.08, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The business's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $1.06 dividend. This is an increase from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is 78.92%.

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.