MB Levis & Associates LLC Has $228,000 Stake in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

MB Levis & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,885 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. MB Levis & Associates LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MO. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $65.00 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.44. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.86 and a 1-year high of $68.60. The stock has a market cap of $109.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results 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. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

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.