WealthCare Investment Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

WealthCare Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,901 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,165 shares during the quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 88.5% during the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 4,007 shares during the period. Invst LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 252.0% in the 1st quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $972,000 after purchasing an additional 11,589 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 202,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,218,000 after purchasing an additional 30,860 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,440 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $64.85 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.86 and a 1 year high of $68.60. The firm has a market cap of $108.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.23.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 78.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.88.

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.