Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 13.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,439,410 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 172,934 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $84,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Country Trust Bank grew its position in Altria Group by 400.0% during the second quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 334.7% during the second quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. 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 research report on Friday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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, Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Four equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $58.76 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.08 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.76. The stock has a market cap of $98.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion during 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 was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. On average, 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 approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management 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.