Private Client Services LLC Grows Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Private Client Services LLC boosted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 64.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,543 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,340 shares during the period. Private Client Services LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Altria Group by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 111.3% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,606,000 after buying an additional 2,928,006 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.4%

MO stock opened at $66.64 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.86 and a 52-week high of $68.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. 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. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. 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 78.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.