Optas LLC Increases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Optas LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,516 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 825 shares during the quarter. Optas LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 88.5% during the 1st quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 4,007 shares during the period. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,715,000. Invst LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 252.0% during the 1st quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $972,000 after buying an additional 11,589 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,086,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,676,000 after buying an additional 161,356 shares during the period. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $241,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $65.72 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.62 and a 200 day moving average of $61.13. The firm has a market cap of $110.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.86 and a 1 year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly 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 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%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently 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.