Sentry Investment Management LLC Purchases 831 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,603 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 831 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,793,000 after acquiring an additional 191,236 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 5.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,510,000 after purchasing an additional 243,201 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,655,000 after buying an additional 215,594 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,916,000 after buying an additional 670,858 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.17.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $53.88 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $54.95. The stock has a market cap of $91.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.57.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.57%. 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.