Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Purchased by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,579 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 910 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 88.5% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $512,000 after acquiring an additional 4,007 shares during the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $1,715,000. Invst LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 252.0% in the first quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $972,000 after acquiring an additional 11,589 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% in the second quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,086,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,676,000 after acquiring an additional 161,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $241,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MO. Barclays lifted their price objective on 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 Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.88.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO opened at $65.70 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $65.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.91. The stock has a market cap of $110.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.86 and a 12 month high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

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.