BluePath Capital Management LLC Has $703,000 Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

BluePath Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 12.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,113 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,726 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $703,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 1,800.0% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE MO traded down $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $45.93. 3,663,821 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,117,853. The company has a market cap of $78.89 billion, a PE ratio of 9.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $47.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $45.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.81.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior 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. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

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.