Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC Raises Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,475 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares during the period. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,083,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,122,290,000 after acquiring an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $3,798,592,000 after acquiring an additional 3,483,487 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,913,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 111.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,928,006 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $66.64 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.86 and a 52 week high of $68.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $65.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MO. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Barclays raised 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.11.

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.