StoneX Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

StoneX Group Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,879 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 631 shares during the quarter. StoneX Group Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $827,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $932,000. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 97.5% during the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 35,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 17,499 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 10.5% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 195,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,510,000 after purchasing an additional 18,482 shares during the period. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at about $27,613,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 91,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,948,000 after purchasing an additional 11,546 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $56.73 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $56.84. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.