Altria Group, Inc. $MO Position Lessened by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 250,631 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,505 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $16,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MO. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 247,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,657,000 after purchasing an additional 27,846 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 26,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,816,000 after buying an additional 2,314 shares in the last quarter. Columbia Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Columbia Asset Management now owns 13,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $880,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Maia Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 28,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,911,000 after buying an additional 5,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Novem Group raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter. Novem Group now owns 6,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 1,774 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MO. Barclays cut their target price on Altria Group from $64.00 to $58.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Freedom Broker upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Five 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kathryn McQuade bought 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $67.62 per share, with a total value of $101,430.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 114,929 shares in the company, valued at $7,771,498.98. The trade was a 1.32% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $74.82 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.70 and a 52 week high of $77.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $69.00 and its 200-day moving average is $69.77.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 315.29% and a net margin of 33.99%. The firm had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.610-5.720 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.11 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.9%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.67%.

Altria Group Profile

Altria Group, Inc is a U.S.-based consumer products company focused primarily on tobacco, nicotine and related products. Through its operating companies, Altria sells cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, oral tobacco and nicotine products, and electronic vapor products.

Altria’s principal cigarette business is Philip Morris USA, whose portfolio includes Marlboro, Parliament and Virginia Slims. Its other major brands include Copenhagen and Skoal moist smokeless tobacco, Black & Mild cigars, on! nicotine pouches and NJOY electronic cigarettes.