Carnegie Investment Counsel Decreases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Carnegie Investment Counsel decreased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 52,429 shares of the company’s stock after selling 232 shares during the quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $126,471,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter worth approximately $1,715,000. Invst LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 252.0% during the 1st quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $972,000 after buying an additional 11,589 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 17.4% in the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,086,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,676,000 after acquiring an additional 161,356 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in Altria Group by 55.5% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 230,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,698,000 after purchasing an additional 82,168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2%

MO stock opened at $64.72 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.76 and a 200-day moving average of $61.68. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.58 and a 12 month high of $68.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm 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 firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The business’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. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price 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 note on Friday. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.11.

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.