Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Purchases 41,472 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC has increased its holdings in Altria Group, acquiring an additional 41,472 shares, resulting in a 19.4% growth in their position, amounting to 255,315 shares valued at approximately $14.98 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Altria Group, with Goldman Sachs increasing their target from $65 to $72, and UBS upgrading its rating from "sell" to "neutral".
• Altria Group has announced a quarterly dividend increase, with a new dividend of $1.06 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $4.24 and a yield of 6.4%.

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 19.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 255,315 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 41,472 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $14,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 88.5% during the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company's stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 4,007 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 252.0% in the first quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the company's stock valued at $972,000 after purchasing an additional 11,589 shares during the period. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,715,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% in the second quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,086,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,676,000 after purchasing an additional 161,356 shares during the period. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $241,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of America upped 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 reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Four 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $66.54 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $65.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $48.86 and a one year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS 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. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. 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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