Altria Group Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:MO)

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 593,624 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,585% compared to the typical volume of 35,224 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. IMS Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $328,000. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 111.8% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 17,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $875,000 after acquiring an additional 9,054 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,679,000 after acquiring an additional 46,697 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 218,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,168,000 after purchasing an additional 21,128 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 89,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,581,000 after purchasing an additional 29,421 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:MO traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $53.47. 5,388,888 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,621,410. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.20. Altria Group has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The company has a market cap of $90.62 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.63.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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

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.