Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 1,000 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Hennessy Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 156,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $9,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 88.5% during the 1st quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $512,000 after purchasing an additional 4,007 shares in the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,715,000. Invst LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 252.0% during the 1st quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $972,000 after purchasing an additional 11,589 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,086,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,676,000 after purchasing an additional 161,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $241,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Bank of America increased their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.88.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $65.70 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.86 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) 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 earned $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s 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. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.