RNC Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• RNC Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Altria Group by 1.6%, now holding approximately 1,057,739 shares valued at $62 million, representing 3.0% of its investment portfolio.
• Recent analyst reports show a mix of ratings for Altria Group, with a consensus target price of $62.11 and analysts from Goldman Sachs and Bank of America initiating a buy rating at a target price of $72.00.
• Altria Group recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.06 per share, increasing from the previous $1.02, resulting in an annualized dividend of $4.24 and a yield of 6.6%.

RNC Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,057,739 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,416 shares during the period. Altria Group makes up about 3.0% of RNC Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. RNC Capital Management LLC owned 0.06% of Altria Group worth $62,015,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 1,300,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 5.8% during 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 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 valued at $1,122,290,000 after acquiring an additional 18,471,846 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Altria Group by 3.7% during the first 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 last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Altria Group by 40.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $717,913,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415,237 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Four equities research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.11.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $64.35 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.58 and a 1-year high of $68.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.81 and a 200 day moving average of $61.56. The firm has a market cap of $108.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.55.

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, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $1.06 per share. 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. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.6%. 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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