Grassi Investment Management Trims Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Grassi Investment Management decreased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,286 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the period. Grassi Investment Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 88.5% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 4,007 shares in the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,715,000. Invst LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 252.0% during the 1st quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $972,000 after buying an additional 11,589 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 17.4% during the second quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,086,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,676,000 after acquiring an additional 161,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp purchased a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $241,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.88.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $65.70 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $65.19 and a 200 day moving average of $60.91. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.86 and a 52-week high of $68.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during 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 company’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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Altria Group’s dividend 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.