Altria hikes dividend by 4.4%

On August 25, 2022, tobacco company Altria Group, Inc. (MO) announced that it will increase its quarterly dividend by 4.4 percent to $0.94 quarterly per share. This comes after a dividend hike of 4.7 percent to 90 cents per share in 2021 and marks the 53rd consecutive year of annual dividend increases by the Dividend Aristocrat.

The next MO dividend will be paid on October 11, 2022 to shareholders of record on September 15, 2022. The next Altria ex-dividend date is September 15, 2022. The new annualized dividend rate of $3.76 per common share represents a yield of 8.2% based on Altria’s stock price of $45.88.

Altria Group, Inc. is a holding company incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1985. 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. 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 of 10.2% in brewer AnheuserBusch InBev, received in 2016 when the Belgian company acquired SABMiller in which Altria had an approximate 27% ownership. Altria previously owned Kraft Foods and Philip Morris International. Kraft Foods, Inc. spin-off was completed March 30, 2007 and Philip Morris International spin-off was completed March 28, 2008.