Mill Capital Management LLC Sells 3,620 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Mill Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 51.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,462 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,620 shares during the quarter. Mill Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 26,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,581,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 5,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 9,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN raised its stake in Altria Group by 1.5% during the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 12,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $723,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. UBS Group cut their target price on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Four 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $56.45 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.08 and a 52-week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.