Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 81,950 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and 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’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $54,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.2 %

MO stock opened at $58.17 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.65 and a 52 week high of $59.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.01%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

About Altria Group

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.