LS Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 3,268 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 33.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,085 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,268 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 2.1% in the second quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $59,000. Owen LaRue LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $690,000. Phil A. Younker & Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Phil A. Younker & Associates Ltd. now owns 16,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 157.0% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 16,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $977,000 after acquiring an additional 10,175 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. 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 report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.88.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:MO opened at $65.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $109.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $1.06 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.