Berkeley Capital Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Berkeley Capital Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MOFree Report) by 20.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 27,310 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,128 shares during the quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,490,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 8,146.4% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $734,827,000 after purchasing an additional 441,083 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $64.40 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.98 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $65.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.52. The company has a market capitalization of $108.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MOGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.11.

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About Altria Group

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Altria Group (NYSE:MO)

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