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

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 400,445 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 945% compared to the average volume of 38,308 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Altria Group Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.02 during trading on Monday, hitting $57.62. 11,942,385 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,547,434. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $54.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.46. Altria Group has a 52-week low of $40.65 and a 52-week high of $59.67. The company has a market cap of $97.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

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.