Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Altria Group Call Options (NYSE:MO)

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 48,909 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 41% compared to the typical daily volume of 34,714 call options.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 335,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,158,000 after purchasing an additional 26,624 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $232,677,000 after buying an additional 44,303 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,599,923 shares in the last quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 43.0% in the second quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. now owns 13,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after buying an additional 3,908 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $126,471,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $1.32 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $61.47. 10,381,678 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,539,867. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.51. Altria Group has a 52-week low of $50.08 and a 52-week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 319.43% and a net margin of 37.89%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.92%.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MO. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $61.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

Altria Group Company Profile

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.