Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Bought by Advyzon Investment Management LLC

Advyzon Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,396 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,077 shares during the quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $126,471,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,715,000. Invst LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 252.0% during the first quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $972,000 after purchasing an additional 11,589 shares in the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.5% during the second quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 79,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,633,000 after purchasing an additional 4,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $5,388,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their target price on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of MO opened at $58.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $98.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $63.80 and a 200-day moving average of $61.88. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.08 and a 52 week high of $68.60.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.06 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.3%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.92%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.