Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Bought by West Family Investments Inc.

West Family Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 42.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,831 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,635 shares during the quarter. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 26,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,581,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Bar Harbor Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.1% in the second quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 5,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 11,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $58.98 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $99.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $50.08 and a one year high of $68.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $61.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.79.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The company had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current 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 reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Company 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.