Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 424 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,711 shares of the company’s stock after selling 424 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in Altria Group by 3.4% during the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 81,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,807,000 after buying an additional 2,688 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 22.4% during the second quarter. Optas LLC now owns 4,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 825 shares during the last quarter. Fluent Financial LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,402,000. Bar Harbor Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 5,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TI Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 140.5% in the 2nd quarter. TI Trust Inc. now owns 31,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,830,000 after purchasing an additional 18,230 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.20. The company has a market capitalization of $111.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly 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. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The business 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 business posted $1.31 EPS. 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. Research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.