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

Naviter Wealth LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group raised Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $65.41 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $65.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.32. The stock has a market cap of $109.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $48.86 and a one year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for 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%.Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was 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 currently 82.01%.

Altria Group 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.