Deltec Asset Management LLC Sells 279 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Deltec Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 43,616 shares of the company’s stock after selling 279 shares during the quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% during the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MO. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Altria Group stock opened at $52.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.04, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.42.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.75%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

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.