HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 1,692,559 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 54.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,405,083 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,692,559 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $101,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.1% in the 2nd 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 during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,830,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,275,886,000 after buying an additional 1,147,141 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 65,516,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,777,931,000 after purchasing an additional 6,265,780 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.6% during 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 during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,806,782,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.11.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1%

Altria Group stock opened at $68.80 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $114.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $69.82 and its 200 day moving average is $69.08. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.70 and a twelve 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.35 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.99% and a negative return on equity of 315.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.610-5.720 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.67 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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