Groupama Asset Managment Lowers Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Groupama Asset Management has significantly reduced its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. by 59.6% during the first quarter, leaving them with 24,111 shares valued at approximately $1.4 million.
• In contrast, several other investors, including Vanguard Group and Charles Schwab, increased their stakes in Altria Group during the same quarter, indicating varied institutional interest in the stock.
• Wall Street analysts have set a consensus price target of $59.13 for Altria Group, with mixed ratings, reflecting a neutral outlook on the stock's performance.

Groupama Asset Managment lowered its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 59.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,111 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,597 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 226.3% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 51.8% in the 1st 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, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. Bank of America upped their target price on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded down $0.0650 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $67.6150. The company had a trading volume of 9,600,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,618,873. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $48.86 and a one year high of $68.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.76. The firm has a market cap of $113.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 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 analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is 78.92%.

About Altria Group

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.