Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 3,435 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sentry Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 17.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,772 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,435 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $764,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Albion Financial Group UT increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% in the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Altria Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after acquiring an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% during the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the period. &PARTNERS bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth approximately $556,000. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $982,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MO. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1 %

MO opened at $54.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.24. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.54%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.36%.

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.