Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Purchased by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 279.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 292,040 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 214,998 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $17,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Country Trust Bank grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 400.0% during the second quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 334.7% in the second quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group dropped their target price 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. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $58.98 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $61.86 and its 200-day moving average is $61.75. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.08 and a 1 year high of $68.60. The company has a market cap of $99.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 program on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management 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.