Thompson Investment Management Inc. Buys 1,235 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Thompson Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 58.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,348 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,235 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MO. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,162,000 after buying an additional 5,440 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 903.6% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 435,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,120,000 after buying an additional 391,819 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 10.5% during the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 11,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $692,000 after buying an additional 1,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.9% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 78,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,701,000 after buying an additional 5,764 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.2%

MO stock opened at $66.54 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.86 and a 12 month high of $68.60. 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. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $65.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.20.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date was 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 82.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.11.

Altria Group 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.