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

Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 89,494 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,517 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 26,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,581,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 5,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $655,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 9,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% in the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 12,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MO. Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company 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 Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $63.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $107.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $65.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.81. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.73 and a twelve month high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

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.