City State Bank Sells 374 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

City State Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,068 shares of the company’s stock after selling 374 shares during the quarter. City State Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $590,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in 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 during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,798,592,000 after buying an additional 3,483,487 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,913,000 after buying an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 111.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,606,000 after buying an additional 2,928,006 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2%

MO opened at $64.72 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $65.76 and its 200-day moving average is $61.68. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.58 and a 1-year high of $68.60. The company has a market cap of $108.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The company 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 company posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MO shares. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Friday. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus 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.