Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Sold by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. decreased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 72.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,559 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,452 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 51.8% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 64.4% in the first quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 717 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.1%

MO opened at $57.29 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.91. The firm has a market cap of $96.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $50.08 and a twelve month high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.4%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 80.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.