Summit Global Investments Takes Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Summit Global Investments bought a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 14,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $856,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,364,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,923 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at $126,471,000. TigerOak Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 43.0% during the second quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. now owns 13,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 3,908 shares during the period. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $1,715,000. Finally, Invst LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 252.0% in the 1st quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $972,000 after buying an additional 11,589 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $57.19 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $50.08 and a one year high of $68.60. The firm has a market cap of $96.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.79.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. The company’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, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target 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 boosted their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.33.

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.