Altria hikes dividend by 4.3% to $0.98 quarterly per share in 2023

On August 25, 2023, tobacco company Altria Group, Inc. (MO) announced a dividend hike of 4.3% to $0.98 quarterly per share. This marks 54 consecutive years of increased dividend by Altria.

Altria Group, Inc. announced that our Board of Directors voted to increase our regular quarterly dividend by 4.3% to $0.98 per share versus the previous rate of $0.94 per share. The quarterly dividend is payable on October 10, 2023 to shareholders of record as of September 15, 2023. The ex-dividend date is September 14, 2023.

The new annualized dividend rate is $3.92 per share, representing a dividend yield of 9.1% based on our closing stock price of $43.12 on August 23, 2023.

Altria states that the dividend increase is consistent with our new progressive dividend goal that was established at the 2023 Investor Day that targets mid-single digits dividend per share growth annually. This increase marks the 58th dividend increase by MO in the past 54 years.

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.