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

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 40,713 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 34% compared to the typical volume of 30,470 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3,786.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698,585 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,916,000 after acquiring an additional 670,858 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Altria Group stock opened at $52.81 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $53.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.29. Altria Group has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The company has a market cap of $89.50 billion, a PE ratio of 8.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64.

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 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders 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 7.73%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

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.