Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Sold by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management decreased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 41.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,622 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,268 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter worth $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter worth $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter worth $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 226.3% during the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group raised Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE:MO opened at $64.92 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $109.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $65.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.29. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.86 and a 12-month high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.Altria Group’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is a positive change 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 yield of 6.5%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

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.