NorthRock Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

NorthRock Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 217,788 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,007 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $12,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,490,196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,798,592,000 after acquiring an additional 3,483,487 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,122,290,000 after buying an additional 18,471,846 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $734,827,000 after buying an additional 441,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 buying an additional 3,415,237 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $66.54 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $111.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $65.72 and its 200 day moving average is $61.24. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $48.86 and a one year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. 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 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.