Altria Group (NYSE:MO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 10,286 put options on the stock, Stock Ratings Network reports. This represents an increase of approximately 174% compared to the average volume of 3,756 put options.
Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Analysts at Zacks reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Altria Group (NYSE:MO) in a research note to investors on Wednesday. They now have a $37.00 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at TheStreet reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Altria Group (NYSE:MO) in a research note to investors on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, analysts at TheStreet reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Altria Group (NYSE:MO) in a research note to investors on Friday, August 23rd.
Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $37.00.
Shares of Altria Group (NYSE:MO) traded up 1.23% during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $35.41. The stock had a trading volume of 12,971,073 shares. Altria Group has a 1-year low of $30.01 and a 1-year high of $37.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $34.75 and a 200-day moving average of $35.3. The company has a market cap of $70.891 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group will post $2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which is scheduled for Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.42%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 12th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44.
Altria Group, Inc is a holding company. At December 31, 2012, Altria Group, Inc’s direct and indirect wholly owned subsidiaries included Philip Morris USA Inc (NYSE:MO), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and certain smokeless products in the United States; John Middleton Co (Middleton), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of machine-made cigars and pipe tobacco, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of PM USA; and UST LLC (UST), which through its direct and indirect wholly owned subsidiaries, including U.