Augustine Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Augustine Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,495 shares of the company’s stock after selling 195 shares during the period. Augustine Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,490,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $734,827,000 after purchasing an additional 441,083 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.88.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $65.67 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.86 and a 1 year high of $68.60. The company has a market cap of $110.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $64.55 and a 200 day moving average of $60.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’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, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

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.