Acadian Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Acadian Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 27.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,031,051 shares of the company’s stock after selling 382,820 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Altria Group worth $60,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in Altria Group by 64.4% in the first quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.3%

MO stock opened at $58.02 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $50.08 and a one year high of $68.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $64.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.89.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 80.92%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on MO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Four 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.33.

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.