Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Position Trimmed by Delta Financial Group Inc.

Delta Financial Group Inc. cut its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,820 shares of the company’s stock after selling 242 shares during the quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $55.01 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $52.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.73. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $93.22 billion, a PE ratio of 8.40, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

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.