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

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 593,624 call options on the company. This is an increase of 1,585% compared to the average daily volume of 35,224 call options.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $53.47 on Wednesday. Altria Group has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The company’s 50 day moving average is $54.07 and its 200 day moving average is $51.20. The company has a market cap of $90.62 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.63.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Altria Group will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.63%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 3,786.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698,585 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 25.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.