Altria Group, Inc. $MO Stock Position Boosted by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,477,906 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 50,654 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.21% of Altria Group worth $203,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its holdings 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 last quarter. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO opened at $64.72 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.58 and a 52-week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 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 firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’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. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.06 dividend. 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 yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MO. Morgan Stanley upped 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 note on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.11.

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.