Venturi Wealth Management LLC Has $451,000 Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,699 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 682 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter worth $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on MO shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Four equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $65.72 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $65.62 and a 200-day moving average of $61.13. The stock has a market cap of $110.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.86 and a 52-week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during 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%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

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.