HighTower Advisors LLC Has $101.10 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 54.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,405,083 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,692,559 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Altria Group worth $101,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.1% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 126,073,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,070,964,000 after buying an additional 1,325,175 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,830,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,275,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147,141 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 65,516,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,777,931,000 after purchasing an additional 6,265,780 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,984,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,651,383,000 after buying an additional 729,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,806,782,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, Barclays decreased 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.11.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE MO opened at $68.80 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $114.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $69.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.08. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.70 and a 52 week high of $77.06.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $1.11 dividend. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 89.45%.

Altria Group Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.