Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Sold by London Co. of Virginia

London Co. of Virginia cut its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,028,394 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100,470 shares during the quarter. Altria Group comprises approximately 1.3% of London Co. of Virginia’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. London Co. of Virginia’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $236,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in 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 approximately $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Country Trust Bank raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group decreased their price target on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.1%

MO stock opened at $58.76 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $60.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.73. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.08 and a 12-month high of $68.60. The company has a market capitalization of $98.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.48.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. The company 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 319.43% and a net margin of 37.89%.Altria Group’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. Research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.92%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.