Cypress Capital Group Purchases 2,651 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Cypress Capital Group increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,777 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,651 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,490,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 8,146.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Altria Group by 3.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $734,827,000 after purchasing an additional 441,083 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Altria Group by 40.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $66.54 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $65.72 and a 200-day moving average of $61.24. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.86 and a 1 year high of $68.60. The company has a market capitalization of $111.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $1.06 dividend. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.