Altria Group, Inc. $MO Position Lifted by Generali Asset Management SPA SGR

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,635 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,122,290,000 after buying an additional 18,471,846 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth about $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% in the 1st 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,913,000 after buying an additional 3,415,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 111.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,606,000 after buying an additional 2,928,006 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Four investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.0%

MO stock opened at $64.23 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.86 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.37. The stock has a market cap of $107.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 82.01%.

Altria Group Company 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.