Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Acquired by Next Level Private LLC

Next Level Private LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 37,262 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. Next Level Private LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 111.3% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,928,006 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.88.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of MO opened at $66.64 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $111.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.86 and a 12-month high of $68.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $63.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.17.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. Altria Group’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.92%.

Altria Group Company 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.