Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 68,946 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,380 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 26.9% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 288,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,904,000 after buying an additional 61,147 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $529,000. RoundAngle Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.9% in the second quarter. RoundAngle Advisors LLC now owns 29,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 831 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 85,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,033,000 after buying an additional 11,430 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 39.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 23,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,363,000 after buying an additional 6,552 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $66.54 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.24. The stock has a market cap of $111.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.86 and a 1 year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS 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 given a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, 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 objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.11.

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.