Altria Group (MO) may not sound like a familiar name, but it has one of the longest and most impressive dividend growth stories in the entire market.

Altria is the owner of Philip Morris USA, which houses its flagship Marlboro brand.

The company has rewarded shareholders with reliable dividend growth for a very long time. It is a Dividend Achiever, a group of companies that have raised dividends for at least 10 years in a row.

You can see the entire list of all 273 Dividend Achievers here.

But Altria’s dividend history is even more impressive than that. It has raised its dividend 50 times in the past 47 years.

The reason why Altria is not a Dividend Aristocrat is because, through various spin-offs over the years, Altria’s quarterly dividend has technically not been raised long enough to qualify.

Don’t be fooled—Altria is just as strong a dividend stock as any of the Dividend Aristocrats. This article will review Altria’s business model and its outlook.

Business Overview

Altria has a tremendous business model. It manufactures cigarettes, but also a number of smokeless tobacco products. It also has cigar and wine businesses. A breakdown of Altria’s business segments is as follows:

  • Smokeable products (89% of revenue)
  • Smokeless products (8% of revenue)
  • Wine (3% of revenue)
  • The smokeable products segment includes cigarettes and cigars. Altria operates the Black & Mild cigar brand in addition to the core Marlboro brand.

    Altria’s smokeless products segment includes chewing tobacco, under the Copenhagen and Skoal brands.

    Lastly, Altria has a small wine business under the Ste. Michelle brand.

    Outside of its operating segments, Altria owns an approximately 26% stake in beer giant SABMiller plc (SBMRY).

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    Source: 2016 CAGNY presentation, page 14

    This is a significant equity investment which contributed $8.7 billion in equity earnings, and another $3.8 billion in dividends, to Altria from 2002-2015.

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