Godsey & Gibb Inc. Decreases Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Godsey & Gibb Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,088 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,950 shares during the quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $737,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 163.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after buying an additional 31,568 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,141,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,550,000 after purchasing an additional 423,091 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Altria Group by 57.5% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 21,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,000 after purchasing an additional 7,983 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 387.9% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 350,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,956,000 after purchasing an additional 278,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 24.7% during the second quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 12,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $51.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.62, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $54.44 and a 200 day moving average of $51.92. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

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.