Altria Group, Inc. $MO Stock Position Increased by CFC Planning Co LLC

CFC Planning Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 11.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,118 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,048 shares during the quarter. Altria Group comprises about 2.8% of CFC Planning Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. CFC Planning Co LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 5.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,592,000 after buying an additional 3,483,487 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,913,000 after buying an additional 3,415,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 111.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,606,000 after buying an additional 2,928,006 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective 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 lifted their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $58.19 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $50.08 and a one year high of $68.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $62.67 and a 200 day moving average of $61.80. The stock has a market cap of $97.68 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The business had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. The business’s quarterly 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

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.