Nuveen LLC Makes New $219.14 Million Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group, purchasing over 3.6 million shares valued at approximately $219 million, representing 0.22% of the company as of the latest SEC filing.
• Altria Group reported $1.44 earnings per share in its most recent quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.37, with a revenue of $5.29 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $4.08 and a yield of 6.2%.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,651,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $219,141,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.22% of Altria Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 88.5% in the 1st quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company's stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 4,007 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company's stock worth $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,440 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 12,217 shares of the company's stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 152.2% in the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 58,268 shares of the company's stock worth $3,497,000 after purchasing an additional 35,168 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group raised Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.13.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $65.58. The company had a trading volume of 10,747,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,184,633. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $60.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.08. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $48.86 and a one year high of $66.29.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 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.