Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,039,244 shares of the company's stock after selling 81,950 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Altria Group worth $54,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Altria Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company's stock worth $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 136.4% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,022,121 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,737,000 after buying an additional 1,166,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,317,662 shares of the company's stock valued at $173,481,000 after buying an additional 1,096,205 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO traded down $2.83 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.96. 10,906,005 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,919,060. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.61 billion, a PE ratio of 8.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.65 and a 12-month high of $60.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $55.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.69.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

Altria Group Profile

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.