LifeWealth Investments LLC Lowers Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

LifeWealth Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,748 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,182 shares during the period. LifeWealth Investments LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Freedom Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $209,000. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.5% in the second quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 21,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,287,000 after buying an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 8.9% in the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 39,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after buying an additional 3,240 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% in the second quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 23,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after buying an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dudley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.3% in the second quarter. Dudley Capital Management LLC now owns 18,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,100,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $64.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $108.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $65.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $49.58 and a one year high of $68.60.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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