Altria Group, Inc. $MO Holdings Raised by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,494 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,517 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 226.3% during the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.11.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of MO opened at $63.71 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $65.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.73 and a 1-year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 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 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

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.