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

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

Altria Group Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $61.47 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $58.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.51. Altria Group has a 52 week low of $50.08 and a 52 week high of $68.60. The stock has a market cap of $103.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 80.92%.

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

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 8.6% during the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 335,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,158,000 after acquiring an additional 26,624 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,522,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,677,000 after purchasing an additional 44,303 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,364,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,923 shares during the last quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 43.0% during the 2nd quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. now owns 13,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 3,908 shares during the period. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $126,471,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on MO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $61.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.56.

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.