Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Acquired by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 245,103 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,761 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $16,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 8.6% in the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 335,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,158,000 after purchasing an additional 26,624 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,522,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,677,000 after acquiring an additional 44,303 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 1.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,364,216,000 after buying an additional 1,599,923 shares in the last quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. raised its stake in Altria Group by 43.0% in the second quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. now owns 13,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 3,908 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $126,471,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $61.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.56.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO opened at $60.11 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $50.08 and a one year high of $68.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $58.10 and a 200-day moving average of $61.51. The company has a market cap of $100.91 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.47.

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. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.89% and a negative return on equity of 319.43%. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. Analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 80.92%.

Altria Group Company Profile

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.