Altria Group, Inc. $MO Stock: Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Raises Holdings

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,072 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,234 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 126,073,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,070,964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325,175 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $1,806,782,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth approximately $1,104,566,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,929,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,194,000 after purchasing an additional 133,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth approximately $631,606,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, Director Kathryn McQuade purchased 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $67.62 per share, for a total transaction of $101,430.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 114,929 shares in the company, valued at $7,771,498.98. This represents a 1.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Freedom Broker raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $58.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.11.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of MO stock opened at $74.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $69.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.77. The firm has a market cap of $124.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.42. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $54.70 and a 12 month high of $77.06.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 315.29% and a net margin of 33.99%. The firm had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.610-5.720 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $1.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.9%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.67%.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc is a U.S.-based consumer products company focused primarily on tobacco, nicotine and related products. Through its operating companies, Altria sells cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, oral tobacco and nicotine products, and electronic vapor products.

Altria’s principal cigarette business is Philip Morris USA, whose portfolio includes Marlboro, Parliament and Virginia Slims. Its other major brands include Copenhagen and Skoal moist smokeless tobacco, Black & Mild cigars, on! nicotine pouches and NJOY electronic cigarettes.