Deltec Asset Management LLC Has $2.04 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Deltec Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,650 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,500 shares during the quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% during the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. 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. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MO. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MO traded up $0.09 on Friday, hitting $45.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,238,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,876,758. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $45.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.75. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $47.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.