Vestor Capital LLC Acquires 59,009 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Vestor Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1,110.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,321 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,009 shares during the quarter. Altria Group comprises about 1.2% of Vestor Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $39,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors boosted its stake in Altria Group by 4.3% during the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 6,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in Altria Group by 6.4% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 52,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,000 after acquiring an additional 3,122 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 276,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,583,000 after acquiring an additional 13,053 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,173,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,456,000 after acquiring an additional 108,685 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on MO shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price 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 reduced their price target on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $58.16 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $50.08 and a twelve month high of $68.60. The firm has a market cap of $97.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.80.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign 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.