Verity & Verity LLC Buys 7,323 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Verity & Verity LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 316,146 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,323 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $18,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Altria Group by 286.7% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,479,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,929,000 after acquiring an additional 3,321,262 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 19.4% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 19,567,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,285,575,000 after acquiring an additional 3,172,753 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 438.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,637,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,749,000 after acquiring an additional 2,962,270 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,980,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,282,143,000 after acquiring an additional 1,903,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter worth approximately $89,460,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $69.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.57, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $68.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.02. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.70 and a 52-week high of $74.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 298.69% and a net margin of 34.34%.Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.560-5.72 EPS. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.1%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $71.00 target price on Altria Group in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Altria Group news, Director Ennis Debra J. Kelly sold 5,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.25, for a total transaction of $418,327.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 73,809 shares in the company, valued at $5,332,700.25. This represents a 7.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $1,885,743.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 180,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,221,318.33. This represents a 13.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 35,698 shares of company stock worth $2,449,191 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.