Diversified Trust Co Sells 6,395 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Diversified Trust Co sold 6,395 shares of Altria Group, reducing its stake by 32.1% to 13,526 shares, valued at approximately $793,000 as of the last quarter.
• Altria Group's latest quarterly earnings report exceeded analysts' estimates, with $1.44 earnings per share on revenue of $5.29 billion, showing a modest year-over-year revenue increase of 0.2%.
• The company recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.06 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 6.6% and marking an increase from the previous dividend of $1.02.

Diversified Trust Co reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 32.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,526 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,395 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co's holdings in Altria Group were worth $793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 51.8% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE MO opened at $63.80 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $64.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.50. The company has a market capitalization of $107.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.86 and a 1-year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The company's quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. 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. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.6%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Two equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $60.88.

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.

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