V Square Quantitative Management LLC Sells 4,382 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

V Square Quantitative Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 26.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,237 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,382 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.6% during the 1st 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 period. Vista Investment Partners II LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.2% during the first quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 9,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN raised its holdings in Altria Group by 1.5% in the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 12,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 2.7% during the first quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of MO opened at $65.58 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month high of $68.60. The company has a market capitalization of $110.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $64.68 and a 200 day moving average of $60.73.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue 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, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current 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 given a $1.06 dividend. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.