Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Altria Group Call Options (NYSE:MO)

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders bought 400,445 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 945% compared to the average volume of 38,308 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $56.73 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.91 billion, a PE ratio of 8.66, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $54.66 and its 200 day moving average is $53.51. Altria Group has a fifty-two week low of $40.65 and a fifty-two week high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.19%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.29%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth about $2,183,000. Nwam LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 13,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 2.8% during the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 151,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,747,000 after acquiring an additional 4,179 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 14.6% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 422,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,553,000 after purchasing an additional 53,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.1% in the third quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 15,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.