Vest Financial LLC Acquires 6,552 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. by 39.2%, acquiring an additional 6,552 shares in the second quarter, bringing their total holdings to 23,248 shares.
• Altria Group recently reported an EPS of $1.44 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, and has set a FY 2025 guidance of 5.350-5.450 EPS.
• The company raised its dividend to $1.06 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 6.5%, reflecting a commitment to return value to shareholders.

Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 39.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,248 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,552 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. 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 research note on Wednesday, August 6th. 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 research note on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $65.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $109.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $65.83 and a 200 day moving average of $61.32. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.86 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The company's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group's payout ratio 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report).

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.