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

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 32,932 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 40% compared to the average volume of 23,453 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.67.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO traded up $1.10 during trading on Thursday, reaching $67.02. 3,548,428 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,063,412. Altria Group has a 1-year low of $52.40 and a 1-year high of $68.60. The company has a market cap of $112.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.08.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 103.16%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 335,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,158,000 after buying an additional 26,624 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,522,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,677,000 after buying an additional 44,303 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,364,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,923 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its stake in Altria Group by 155.4% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 31,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,062,000 after acquiring an additional 18,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $126,471,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.