Patron Partners LLC Grows Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Patron Partners LLC increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,155 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,938 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,490,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,592,000 after buying an additional 3,483,487 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 8,146.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,122,290,000 after buying an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 3.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $734,827,000 after buying an additional 441,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Altria Group by 40.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,913,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $65.20 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.86 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60. The company has a market capitalization of $109.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a fifty day moving average of $64.40 and a 200 day moving average of $60.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. 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 is currently 82.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.