FLC Capital Advisors Lowers Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

FLC Capital Advisors cut its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,183 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,393 shares during the quarter. FLC Capital Advisors’ holdings in Altria Group were worth $653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 21,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $987,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Corrigan Financial Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 4.7% during the second quarter. Corrigan Financial Inc. now owns 5,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% during the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% during the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 5,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $36.10 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.82.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.3 %

MO stock traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.66. 8,999,438 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,842,448. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $48.04. The company has a market cap of $76.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $41.34 and its 200-day moving average is $41.53.

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. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.98%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

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.