Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC Sells 2,652 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,602 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,652 shares during the quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 4.3% during the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 5,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Day & Ennis LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.9% in the third quarter. Day & Ennis LLC now owns 5,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Whitener Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.6% in the third quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO traded up $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.92. 12,425,988 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,959,617. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $48.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.45.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

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.