Seneca House Advisors Has $5.93 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Seneca House Advisors trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 17.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,835 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,278 shares during the quarter. Altria Group accounts for 2.4% of Seneca House Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Seneca House Advisors’ holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 86.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its position in Altria Group by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 9,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth $346,000. Finally, AXA S.A. bought a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,752,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MO. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $77.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $71.00 target price on Altria Group in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Altria Group from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.78.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $0.19 on Friday, hitting $71.78. 7,334,373 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,513,980. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $71.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.74. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.70 and a 52 week high of $74.56. The company has a market cap of $119.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.45.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 298.69% and a net margin of 34.34%.The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.560-5.72 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.9%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 88.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ellen R. Strahlman sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.56, for a total transaction of $145,120.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,102 shares in the company, valued at $1,821,401.12. This represents a 7.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ennis Debra J. Kelly sold 5,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.25, for a total transaction of $418,327.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 73,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,332,700.25. This represents a 7.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.