Altria Group, Inc. $MO is Adams Asset Advisors LLC’s 9th Largest Position

Adams Asset Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 12.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 238,344 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,108 shares during the quarter. Altria Group comprises about 2.0% of Adams Asset Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Adams Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $13,974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Gallacher Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% during the second quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 39,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,324,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356 shares during the last quarter. Somerset Trust Co grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.4% in the second quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 6,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 9.5% in the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 3,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centurion Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $233,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $66.64 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.86 and a 1-year high of $68.60. The company has a market capitalization of $111.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50-day moving average of $63.28 and a 200-day moving average of $60.17.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.88.

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.