LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Decreases Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI cut its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,919 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,275 shares during the quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth approximately $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 111.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,928,006 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a 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 shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.88.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:MO opened at $66.64 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $111.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.09. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month high of $68.60.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.92%.

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.