Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Purchased by Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC

Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 410.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,771 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,424 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,490,196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $734,827,000 after purchasing an additional 441,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 valued at $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $65.70 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 $65.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.93. The company has a market cap of $110.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started 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 on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.11.

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.