Sentry Investment Management LLC Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sentry Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 96.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,207 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,908 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% in the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MO traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $40.90. 4,748,410 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,622,600. The stock has a market cap of $70.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $48.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.45.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.78%.

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.