Altria Group, Inc. $MO Stock Holdings Trimmed by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 73.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 472,467 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,314,848 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $27,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,490,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 period. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,122,290,000 after buying an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Altria Group by 3.7% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Altria Group by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,913,000 after buying an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $57.24 on Friday. 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 $96.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.84.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The company’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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.4%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.92%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

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.