City Holding Co. Sells 700 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

City Holding Co. reduced its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 19.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,813 shares of the company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. City Holding Co.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MO. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Fairman Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 330.4% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $51.92 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.03. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03. The firm has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.86%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

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.