Freedom Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Freedom Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,122,290,000 after acquiring an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter worth $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 5.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,592,000 after acquiring an additional 3,483,487 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 40.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,913,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 111.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,928,006 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on MO shares. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated 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 assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $63.71 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.73 and a 1-year high of $68.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $65.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.81. The company has a market capitalization of $107.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.