Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Has $8.50 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 144,895 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,697 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 334.7% in the 2nd quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Finally, Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Altria Group Stock Up 1.8%

MO stock opened at $58.36 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $50.08 and a twelve month high of $68.60. The company has a market cap of $97.97 billion, a PE ratio of 11.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.78.

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

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Altria Group

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.