03-01-2018, 02:18 PM
(03-01-2018, 01:00 PM)rapidacid Wrote: 2 div raises from Mighty MO in a year
Altria (NYSE:MO) declares $0.70/share quarterly dividend, 6.1% increase from prior dividend of $0.66.
Forward yield 4.45%
Payable April 10; for shareholders of record March 15; ex-div March 14.
Holy smokes!
Even before this news I was considering a new thread on how well MO is doing -- STILL. EPS growth is looking very healthy (and NOT primarily due to buybacks), and payout ratio has dipped below 70 percent. Given that they explicitly target a payout ratio of 80 percent, I was going to suggest that big dividend raises were afoot, but I assumed we'd just get a really nice raise at the annual mark (Q4 2018). To get this raise now is really something.
And if their 2018 guidance is accurate, payout ratio still is in the low 70s, so still plenty of room for additional increases.