Keep On Smokin'. Altria Raises Dividend (MO)

Altria Group, Inc. (Altria) MO today announced that its Board of Directors voted to increase the company’s regular quarterly dividend by 8.6% to $0.38 per common share versus the previous rate of $0.35 per common share. The new annualized dividend rate is $1.52 per common share. The quarterly dividend is payable on October 12, 2010 to shareholders of record as of September 15, 2010. The ex-dividend date is September 13, 2010. Today’s increase reflects the company’s intention to return a large amount of cash to shareholders in the form of dividends, and is consistent with the company’s dividend payout ratio target of approximately 80% of its adjusted diluted earnings per share. This is the second dividend increase in 2010, resulting in an overall quarterly dividend increase of 11.8% since the beginning of the year. In February 2010, Altria’s quarterly dividend increased by 2.9% to $0.35 per common share versus the previous rate of $0.34 per common share.