Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd Acquires Shares of 4,089 Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,122,290,000 after acquiring an additional 18,471,846 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 111.3% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,928,006 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.3%

MO opened at $64.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $108.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.62. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.58 and a 12-month high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group 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.