Altria announces 51st consecutive year of dividend increases in 2020

Marlboro is a brand of Altria

Dividend Aristocrat Altria Group (MO) will raise its dividend again this year. The quarterly payment will be raised by $0.02 to 86 cents quarterly per share.

The new annual dividend rate yields an estimated 8.1 percent at the current stock price.


Altria will hike its dividend by 2 cents to $0.86 per share quarterly, marking the 51st consecutive year of dividend increases by the tobacco company.

 The quarterly dividend will be paid on October 9, 2020 to shareholders of record on September 15, 2020. The ex-dividend date is September 14, 2020.


The new annualized dividend rate is $3.44 per common share, representing a yield of 8.1% based on Altria’s current stock price of $42.67.

“We’re pleased to announce that yesterday, our Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.86 per share, representing a new annualized dividend rate of $3.44 per share and an increase of 2.4% from the previous annualized rate of $3.36 per share. This dividend increase marks the 55th dividend increase in the past 51 years,” said Sal Mancuso, Altria’s Chief Financial Officer.

Earlier this month fellow Dividend Aristocrat PPG Industries raised its dividend by 5.9 percent. For Altria this dividend hike is the smallest in many years. Last year the dividend was raised by 5.0 percent.

Altria Group, Inc. is a holding company. Altria’s wholly-owned subsidiaries include Philip Morris USA Inc., U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company LLC, John Middleton Co., Nu Mark LLC, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Ltd. (Ste. Michelle) and Philip Morris Capital Corporation. Altria's tobacco brands include Marlboro, Black & Mild, Copenhagen, Skoal, MarkTen and Green Smoke. Altria also holds an equity investment in AB InBev, owning approximately 10.2% of the Belgium-based beer brewer.