Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Sold by Tufton Capital Management

Tufton Capital Management reduced its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,268 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,095 shares during the quarter. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $602,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 51.8% during the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth $40,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America increased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:MO opened at $56.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $95.13 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.91.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The business’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current 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 paid 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 of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.5%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.92%.

Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Altria Group

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.