OLD National Bancorp IN Boosts Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,795 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,013 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $9,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MO. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on 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, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $65.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $110.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.93. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.86 and a 1-year high of $68.60.

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 firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

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.