Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,213 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,037 shares during the quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 5,440 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,000. Archford Capital Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,700,000. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 11,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $64.35 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $65.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.56. The company has a market capitalization of $108.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.58 and a 1-year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, research 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 announced 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. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price 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 stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America raised 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.11.

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.