Prostatis Group LLC Has $270,000 Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Prostatis Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 23.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,603 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,387 shares during the quarter. Prostatis Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 88.5% in the 1st quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 4,007 shares during the period. Invst LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 252.0% in the 1st quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $972,000 after acquiring an additional 11,589 shares during the period. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,715,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% in the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,086,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,676,000 after acquiring an additional 161,356 shares during the period. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $241,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE MO opened at $66.54 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.86 and a 12-month high of $68.60. The company has a market capitalization of $111.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $65.72 and its 200-day moving average is $61.22.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.11.

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.