Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Purchased by Advisors Capital Management LLC

Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 19.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 419,322 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 68,063 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $25,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vista Investment Partners II LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 1.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 9,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its position in Altria Group by 1.5% in the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 12,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 2.7% in the first quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 11,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.88.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.1%

MO stock opened at $66.26 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month high of $68.60. The company has a market capitalization of $111.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.94.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly 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. On average, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend yield of 6.4%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 78.92%.

Altria Group 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.