Altria Group, Inc. $MO Position Increased by Second Line Capital LLC

Second Line Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 26.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,643 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Second Line Capital LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 8.5% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 470,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,239,000 after buying an additional 36,974 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in Altria Group by 25.2% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 1,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Altria Group by 184.6% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,095,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,800,000 after purchasing an additional 2,007,859 shares during the period. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 14,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $883,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.2%

Altria Group stock opened at $67.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $112.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.23. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.86 and a 1-year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays increased their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.