Beacon Financial Advisory LLC Increases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Beacon Financial Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,806 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,034 shares during the quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,337,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. 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 valued at $1,122,290,000 after buying an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 3,483,487 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 40.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,913,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 111.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,928,006 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $65.70 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $65.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.93. The company has a market cap of $110.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.86 and a 52-week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MO shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.11.

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.