Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Sold by Carnegie Investment Counsel

Carnegie Investment Counsel cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,429 shares of the company’s stock after selling 232 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,122,290,000 after acquiring an additional 18,471,846 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 3,483,487 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 111.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,606,000 after buying an additional 2,928,006 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of MO stock opened at $64.72 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $65.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.68. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.58 and a 52-week high of $68.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.6%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend 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.