Chemung Canal Trust Co. Decreases Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Chemung Canal Trust Co. has reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. by 49.0%, holding 7,142 shares worth approximately $419,000 after selling 6,850 shares in the second quarter.
• Several investment firms have adjusted their positions in Altria Group, with Vanguard Group increasing its stake by 0.8% and Charles Schwab Investment Management increasing by 5.8% in the first quarter.
• Altria Group has declared a quarterly dividend of $1.06, up from the previous $1.02, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 6.5%.

Chemung Canal Trust Co. lowered its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 49.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,142 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,850 shares during the period. Chemung Canal Trust Co.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 1,300,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 5.8% in 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 grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,122,290,000 after acquiring an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company's stock valued at $734,827,000 after acquiring an additional 441,083 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company's stock worth $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of MO opened at $65.70 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month high of $68.60. The stock has a market cap of $110.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.55. The business's 50-day moving average price is $65.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.93.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during 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%. Altria Group's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This is an increase from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

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.

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