Ascent Group LLC Decreases Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Ascent Group LLC lowered its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 27.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 111,220 shares of the company’s stock after selling 42,841 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 62.5% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $954,446,000 after purchasing an additional 6,302,819 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth $126,471,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 97.0% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,968,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,953,966 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,364,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $87,445,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $57.75 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $50.08 and a 12 month high of $68.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 319.43% and a net margin of 37.89%.The company had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.3%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 80.92%.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.