DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Has $22.84 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale decreased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 388,836 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,249 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $22,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of MO stock opened at $64.35 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $65.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.58 and a 12 month high of $68.60. The company has a market capitalization of $108.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.6%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MO. Bank of America increased their target price on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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.