Narwhal Capital Management Sells 4,000 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Narwhal Capital Management reduced its stake in Altria Group by 15.4%, selling 4,000 shares during the second quarter, leaving them with a total of 22,045 shares valued at approximately $1.29 million.
• Altria Group's quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $1.44, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.37, and the company reported revenue of $5.29 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.06, with a dividend yield of 6.5%, up from its previous dividend of $1.02.

Narwhal Capital Management lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 15.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,045 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,000 shares during the period. Narwhal Capital Management's holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,928,006 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday. 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. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $65.41 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $109.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.86 and a 52 week high of $68.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $65.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.07.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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