Altria Group, Inc. $MO Position Boosted by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 494,560 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,000 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $35,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.1% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 126,073,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,070,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325,175 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,830,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,275,886,000 after buying an additional 1,147,141 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,984,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,651,383,000 after buying an additional 729,999 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,806,782,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,104,566,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In related news, Director Kathryn McQuade purchased 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $67.62 per share, for a total transaction of $101,430.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 114,929 shares in the company, valued at $7,771,498.98. The trade was a 1.32% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of MO traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $68.86. 9,559,669 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,261,146. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $69.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.14. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.70 and a twelve month high of $77.06. The stock has a market cap of $114.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.45.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.99% and a negative return on equity of 315.29%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.610-5.720 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.11 per share. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 93.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Freedom Broker upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.11.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a tobacco and nicotine company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Through its operating companies, Altria develops, manufactures and markets cigarettes, cigars, oral tobacco products, nicotine pouches and electronic vaping products, with its business focused primarily on the United States.

Altria’s smokeable products portfolio includes Marlboro cigarettes, which are manufactured and marketed in the U.S. by Philip Morris USA, as well as Black & Mild cigars through John Middleton.