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

Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 29,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,490,196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of 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. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $58.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $97.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.08 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.84.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. The firm’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, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.33.

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.