Verus Financial Partners Inc. Cuts Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Verus Financial Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,468 shares of the company’s stock after selling 429 shares during the period. Altria Group accounts for about 0.3% of Verus Financial Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Verus Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,490,196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,592,000 after acquiring an additional 3,483,487 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $734,827,000 after acquiring an additional 441,083 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,913,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.88.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $65.74 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.86 and a 1 year high of $68.60. The firm has a market cap of $110.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.86.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

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.