Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Altria Group (NYSE:MO)

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 77,485 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 128% compared to the average volume of 33,967 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in Altria Group by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,215,000 after purchasing an additional 19,893 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,573,000 after purchasing an additional 12,011 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,935,224,000 after purchasing an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 729.8% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of MO traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $55.10. 3,259,233 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,188,808. Altria Group has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $52.61 and its 200-day moving average is $52.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.40%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

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.