Savant Capital LLC Buys 8,273 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 111,061 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,273 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,490,196,000 after buying an additional 1,300,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 valued at $3,798,592,000 after acquiring an additional 3,483,487 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,122,290,000 after acquiring an additional 18,471,846 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Altria Group by 3.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $734,827,000 after purchasing an additional 441,083 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO opened at $58.02 on Friday. The firm 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. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $64.16 and its 200-day moving average is $61.86. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $50.08 and a one year high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Altria Group’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. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.