Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 230,959 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,950 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $10,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in 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. Accordant Advisory Group Inc acquired a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock traded up $0.86 on Tuesday, hitting $46.88. 4,271,358 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,987,990. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $47.19. The business’s fifty day moving average is $45.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.36%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Insider Activity

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

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.