Altria Group Inc. [NYSE: MO] surged by $0.31 during the normal trading session on while it closed the day at $41.96. The company report on March 19, 2024 at 4:15 PM that Altria Enters $2.4 Billion Accelerated Share Repurchase Transactions in Connection with Closing of Offering of Anheuser-Busch InBev Stock.
Altria Group, Inc. (Altria) (NYSE: MO) today announces that we entered accelerated share repurchase (ASR) transactions under separate agreements with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC on March 15, 2024, to repurchase $2.4 billion of our common stock. Under the terms of the ASR agreements, on March 19, 2024, we received an initial share delivery of approximately 85% of the shares to be repurchased, based on the closing price per share of our common stock on March 15, 2024. We expect the remainder of the shares to be delivered no later than the end of the second quarter of 2024. Under certain circumstances specified in the ASR agreements, we may be required to deliver shares or pay cash, at our option, upon settlement of the ASR agreements. The total number of shares ultimately purchased under the ASR agreements will depend upon final settlement and will be based on volume-weighted average prices of our common stock during the terms of the ASR transactions, less a discount. The ASR transactions are part of our expanded $3.4 billion share repurchase program, which we expect to complete by December 31, 2024. Share repurchases depend on marketplace conditions and other factors, and the program remains subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors.
We also announce the closing of our sale of 35 million shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (ABI) (NYSE: BUD) (Euronext: ABI) (MEXBOL: ANB) (JSE: ANH) through a global secondary offering (offering) comprised of a public offering of ABI ordinary shares represented by American depositary shares (ADS) in the United States, a public offering of ABI ordinary shares in the United States, a concurrent private placement of ABI ordinary shares in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom and an offering of ABI ordinary shares, including ABI ordinary shares represented by ADSs, in other countries outside the United States, at a price of $61.50 per ADS, corresponding to €56.17 per ABI ordinary share. In addition, ABI repurchased $200 million of ordinary shares directly from us, concurrently with the completion of the offering. We granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 5.25 million of our ABI shares at the price per ADS paid by the underwriters in the offering, exercisable within 30 days of the underwriting agreement, executed on March 14, 2024. In conjunction with the offering, we committed to a 180-day lockup from the date of the underwriting agreement with the lead underwriter for our remaining ABI shares.
Altria Group Inc. stock has also loss -2.92% of its value over the past 7 days. However, MO stock has inclined by 1.13% in the 3 months of the year. Over the past six months meanwhile, it has lost -0.07% and gained 4.02% year-on date.
The market cap for MO stock reached $73.99 billion, with 1.76 billion shares outstanding and 1.76 billion shares in the current float. Compared to the average trading volume of 12.04M shares, MO reached a trading volume of 9400508 in the most recent trading day, which is why market watchdogs consider the stock to be active.
Here’s what leading stock market gurus have to say about Altria Group Inc. [MO]:
Based on careful and fact-backed analyses by Wall Street experts, the current consensus on the target price for MO shares is $46.46 per share. Analysis on target price and performance of stocks is usually carefully studied by market experts, and the current Wall Street consensus on MO stock is a recommendation set at 2.62. This rating represents a strong Buy recommendation, on the scale from 1 to 5, where 5 would mean strong sell, 4 represents Sell, 3 is Hold, and 2 indicates Buy.
UBS have made an estimate for Altria Group Inc. shares, keeping their opinion on the stock as Sell, with their previous recommendation back on January 23, 2024. While these analysts kept the previous recommendation, Stifel raised their target price to Buy. The new note on the price target was released on April 14, 2023, representing the official price target for Altria Group Inc. stock. Previously, the target price had yet another raise to $38, while UBS analysts kept a Sell rating on MO stock. On June 29, 2022, analysts decreased their price target for MO shares from 53 to 36.
The Average True Range (ATR) for Altria Group Inc. is set at 0.69, with the Price to Sales ratio for MO stock in the period of the last 12 months amounting to 3.61. Price to Free Cash Flow for MO in the course of the last twelve months was 8.14 with Quick ratio for the last quarter at 0.39.
MO stock trade performance evaluation
Altria Group Inc. [MO] fell into the red zone at the end of the last week, falling into a negative trend and dropping by -2.92. With this latest performance, MO shares gained by 0.99% in over the last four-week period, additionally sinking by -0.07% over the last 6 months – not to mention a drop of -5.56% in the past year of trading.
Overbought and oversold stocks can be easily traced with the Relative Strength Index (RSI), where an RSI result of over 70 would be overbought, and any rate below 30 would indicate oversold conditions. An RSI rate of 50 would represent a neutral market momentum. The current RSI for MO stock in for the last two-week period is set at 44.96, with the RSI for the last a single of trading hit 39.71, and the three-weeks RSI is set at 47.94 for Altria Group Inc. [MO]. The present Moving Average for the last 50 days of trading for this stock 41.71, while it was recorded at 42.04 for the last single week of trading, and 42.41 for the last 200 days.
Altria Group Inc. [MO]: An insightful look at the core fundamentals
Altria Group Inc.’s liquidity data is similarly interesting compelling, with a Quick Ratio of 0.39 and a Current Ratio set at 0.49.
Earnings per share (EPS) analysis for Altria Group Inc. [MO] stock
With the latest financial reports released by the company, Altria Group Inc. posted 1.18/share EPS, while the average EPS was predicted by analysts to be reported at 1.18/share. The progress of the company may be observed through the prism of EPS growth rate, while Wall Street analysts are focusing on predicting the 5-year EPS growth rate for MO. When it comes to the mentioned value, analysts are expecting to see the 5-year EPS growth rate for Altria Group Inc. go to 2.80%.
Altria Group Inc. [MO]: Institutional Ownership
The top three institutional holders of MO stocks are: VANGUARD GROUP INC with ownership of 1.32 billion shares, which is approximately 8.4983%. BLACKROCK INC., holding 1.04 billion shares of the stock with an approximate value of $200.69 billion in MO stocks shares; and BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC, currently with $174.35 billion in MO stock with ownership which is approximately 5.8386%.
