Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Trims Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lowered its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 826,043 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,928 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $48,431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Avion Wealth increased its stake in Altria Group by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 2,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Altria Group by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 23,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,387,000 after buying an additional 3,832 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in Altria Group by 32.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 290,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,042,000 after buying an additional 70,679 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its stake in Altria Group by 132.5% in the 2nd quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 8,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 5,124 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 115.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 74,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,380,000 after buying an additional 40,071 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of 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 raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.11.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $64.72 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.58 and a 1 year high of $68.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $65.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.68. The stock has a market cap of $108.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.6%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.