Altria Group, Inc. $MO Position Increased by Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,231 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 926 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $66.54 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $65.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.24. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.86 and a 52 week 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’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, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America upped 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. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.11.

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.