Next Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Next Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,700 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 978 shares during the quarter. Next Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 18.5% in the second quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 76,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,489,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 8,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the second quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 13,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $51.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $87.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.20. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.99%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

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.