Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Sells 7,302 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 86,194 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,302 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated 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 on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $65.41 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The company’s 50-day moving average is $65.83 and its 200-day moving average is $61.32. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.86 and a 1 year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The business’s 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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.