Rathbones Group PLC Cuts Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Rathbones Group PLC reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,906 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,751 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 51.8% during the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 64.4% during the first quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 717 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group reduced 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. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.89. The company has a market capitalization of $97.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.