Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,031 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the quarter. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MO. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,122,290,000 after acquiring an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,798,592,000 after acquiring an additional 3,483,487 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,913,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 111.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,928,006 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $66.54 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $48.86 and a one year high of $68.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.55.

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 business had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 6.4%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. Bank of America lifted 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. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned 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.

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.