Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Purchased by Advisory Services Network LLC

Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 13.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 197,256 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,105 shares during the quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $12,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 33.8% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 54,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,217,000 after buying an additional 13,870 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 83,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,879,000 after buying an additional 1,124 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $330,000. Finally, Second Line Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 7,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.1%

MO opened at $58.76 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.75. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.08 and a 52 week high of $68.60. The company has a market cap of $98.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.48.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.89% and a negative return on equity of 319.43%. The company had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be issued a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 80.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group reduced 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. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.33.

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.