Quent Capital LLC Buys 786 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 22.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,275 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 786 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% during the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their price objective on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of MO opened at $65.70 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.86 and a 12-month high of $68.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.93. The stock has a market cap of $110.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The business’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 expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s 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.