Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Sold by Naviter Wealth LLC

Naviter Wealth LLC lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,619 shares of the company’s stock after selling 632 shares during the quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 26,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,581,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management increased its stake in Altria Group by 3.1% during the second quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 5,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 4.2% during the first quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 9,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.5% during the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 12,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.11.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $65.41 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.86 and a 12 month high of $68.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $65.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.32.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s 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.