Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Lowers Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,357 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,415 shares during the quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 28.5% in the 1st quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 22,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,335,000 after buying an additional 4,933 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 3,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the period. Breakwater Capital Group purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth $425,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 16,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 7,074 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $65.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $110.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.91. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.86 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $1.06 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Altria Group Company Profile

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.