Sepio Capital LP Has $2.15 Million Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Sepio Capital LP reduced its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. by 15.5%, now owning 35,855 shares worth approximately $2.15 million.
• Altria Group recently reported $1.44 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, with a revenue of $5.29 billion, up 0.2% from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.06 per share, raising its annualized dividend to $4.24 and a yield of 6.4%.

Sepio Capital LP lessened its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 15.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,855 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,575 shares during the quarter. Sepio Capital LP's holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 88.5% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company's stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 4,007 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 6,954 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 17.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 5,440 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 12.2% in the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 12,217 shares of the company's stock valued at $733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 152.2% in the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 58,268 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,497,000 after purchasing an additional 35,168 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $66.39. The company had a trading volume of 5,493,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,951,276. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $63.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.94. The company has a market capitalization of $111.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.86 and a 1-year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.Altria Group's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 78.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.88.

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.