Louisbourg Investments Inc. Grows Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Louisbourg Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 58.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,360 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $80,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 26,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,581,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 5,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 9,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 12,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $723,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.2%

MO stock opened at $66.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $111.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 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. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.20.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’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. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $1.06 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.