Dividend Aristocrat Altria Group declares 4.4% dividend hike in 2022

Dividend Aristocrat Altria (ticker symbol MO) will raise its dividend for the 53rd consecutive year in 2022. The dividend yield for the tobacco company is 8.2%

Altria Group, Inc. on August 25, 2022 announced that its Board of Directors voted to increase the regular quarterly dividend by 4.4% to $0.94 per share versus the previous rate of $0.90 per share. The quarterly dividend is payable on October 11, 2022 to shareholders of record as of September 15, 2022. The ex-dividend date is September 14, 2022.

The new annualized dividend rate is $3.76 per share, representing a dividend yield of 8.2% based on our closing stock price of $45.80 on August 24, 2022.

Today’s dividend increase reflects our intention to return a large amount of cash to shareholders in the form of dividends and is consistent with our long-term objective of a dividend payout ratio target of approximately 80% of our adjusted diluted earnings per share. This increase marks the 57th dividend increase in the past 53 years.

Based on calculations by dividendtrackrecords.com Altria will now pay an estimated $6.8 billion in dividends to shareholders annually. In 2021 Altria announced a 4.7% dividend hike, marking 52 straight years of dividend growth. Another Dividend Aristocrat announcing a dividend hike recently is Illinois Tool Works.

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, the Belgium-based beer brewer.