Next Level Private LLC Grows Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Next Level Private LLC grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 13.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,519 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,084 shares during the quarter. Next Level Private LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,352,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,564,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,262,710,000 after buying an additional 1,240,150 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,271,000 after purchasing an additional 840,559 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 1.9% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,856,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,596,257,000 after purchasing an additional 671,929 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,517,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $990,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192,266 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 108,222.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,590,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $849,763,000 after purchasing an additional 18,573,146 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $36.10 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.82.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $43.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50-day moving average is $41.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.53. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.94%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

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.