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

Key Points

• Traders bought 37,493 call options on Altria—about a 62% increase over average call volume—indicating unusually high bullish options activity.
• Altria declared a quarterly dividend of $1.06 (annualized $4.24) with an ex-dividend date of March 25 and a yield of 6.5%, though its payout ratio is a high 103.16%.
• SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares for roughly $1.89 million, cutting his ownership by 13.37% as disclosed in an SEC filing.

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 37,493 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 62% compared to the average volume of 23,181 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.11.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $1,885,743.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 180,869 shares in the company, valued at $12,221,318.33. This represents a 13.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 62.5% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company's stock worth $954,446,000 after buying an additional 6,302,819 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 65,516,916 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,777,931,000 after acquiring an additional 6,265,780 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Altria Group by 286.7% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,479,699 shares of the company's stock valued at $295,929,000 after acquiring an additional 3,321,262 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 438.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,637,678 shares of the company's stock worth $209,749,000 after purchasing an additional 2,962,270 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,980,626 shares of the company's stock worth $9,282,143,000 after purchasing an additional 1,903,530 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $64.79. 4,135,490 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,358,969. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45. Altria Group has a one year low of $52.82 and a one year high of $70.51. The company's 50 day moving average is $65.32 and its 200 day moving average is $62.53.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a net margin of 29.84% and a negative return on equity of 287.61%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Altria Group's payout ratio is 103.16%.

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.

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