Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Sells 1,630 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 73,121 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,630 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,122,290,000 after acquiring an additional 18,471,846 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 111.3% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,928,006 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $64.35 on Thursday. The firm 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 one year low of $49.58 and a one year high of $68.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.56.

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 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 business had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.06 dividend. 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays raised their target price 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.