Aspiriant LLC Acquires Shares of 3,538 Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Aspiriant LLC bought a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,715,000. Invst LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 252.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 161,356 shares during the period. Carr Financial Group Corp purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $241,000. Finally, FCG Investment Co bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,237,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $65.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $109.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.44. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.86 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on MO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.