Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 340.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,949 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,644 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MO. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.88.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $67.21 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.86 and a 1 year high of $68.60. The company has a market capitalization of $112.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s fifty day moving average is $61.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.31.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $1.31 EPS. Altria Group’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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company 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 $1.06 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.