Next Level Private LLC Has $1.35 Million Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Next Level Private LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,519 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,084 shares during the period. Next Level Private LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE MO opened at $43.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.53. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $48.04.

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

Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.94%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.