Smith Asset Management Co. LLC Invests $238,000 in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Smith Asset Management Co. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 3,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 84.1% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 30,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 13,991 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in Altria Group by 59.1% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 171,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,805,000 after purchasing an additional 63,781 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,742,000. Finally, Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC grew its position in Altria Group by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC now owns 5,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.88.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO opened at $65.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $48.86 and a one year high of $68.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $62.70 and its 200-day moving average is $59.85.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.92%.

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.