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Altria Drops Most Since 2006 After Morgan Stanley Downgrade 

Altria Group Inc., the largest U.S. tobacco company, fell the most in 18 months after Morgan Stanley lowered its rating on the stock on concerns management won't aggressively buy back shares and cut costs after spinning off its international division last week.

A plan by Altria, the maker of top-selling Marlboro, to buy back $7.5 billion in stock over the next two years fell $2.5 billion below Morgan Stanley analyst David Adelman's expectation. Adelman said in a note to investors today that he downgraded Altria to ``equal-weight'' from ``overweight''

Chief Executive Officer Michael Szymanczyk probably won't increase the pace of buybacks or cut more costs, and the company isn't likely to spin off its 28.6 percent stake in brewer SABMiller Plc to generate cash, the analyst said.

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