Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Buys 3,908 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC lifted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 31.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,370 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,908 shares during the quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Altria Group Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $66.29 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month high of $68.60. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $64.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.81.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

About Altria Group

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.