Fox Run Management L.L.C. Acquires New Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 29,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 6,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth $206,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 113,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,678,000 after acquiring an additional 15,790 shares during the period. Finally, CFC Planning Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. CFC Planning Co LLC now owns 45,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,705,000 after acquiring an additional 5,831 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO opened at $58.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $97.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.08 and a 1-year high of $68.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.84.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management 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.