Fortis Capital Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 5,388 Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 5,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $323,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 51.8% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.1%

MO opened at $66.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $111.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.86 and a 52 week high of $68.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.94.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 EPS 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 78.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.