Altria Group Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:MO)

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 46,157 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 41% compared to the average daily volume of 32,746 call options.

Altria Group Trading Up 7.8 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $54.46 on Friday. Altria Group has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $54.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.49%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. BNP Paribas bought a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth $44,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MO. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.20.

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.