Virtus Advisers LLC Purchases New Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Virtus Advisers LLC has invested $688,000 in Altria Group, acquiring 11,469 shares, making it the firm's 26th largest holding.
• Altria recently raised its quarterly dividend from $1.02 to $1.06, reflecting a yield of 6.3% and a payout ratio of 78.92%.
• Analysts have mixed views on Altria Group, with two buy ratings, five hold ratings, and two sell ratings, while the average target price is set at $60.00.

Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 11,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $688,000. Altria Group makes up approximately 0.9% of Virtus Advisers LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MO. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America raised their price target 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.88.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.79 during trading on Friday, hitting $67.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,928,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,053,661. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $61.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.14. The company has a market capitalization of $112.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.59. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 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 net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. This is a positive change from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Altria Group's payout ratio is presently 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.