The Best Dividend Stock In America

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Jul 4, 12:26PM EDT

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Not many investors have heard of Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO | MO Price Prediction). However, the company’s engine is one of the world’s most famous brands, Marlboro. The stock has a forward yield of 7%. It is very likely to keep its current dividend or perhaps raise it. It has raised that dividend 56 years in a row. Altria has strong cash flow and an ironclad balance sheet.

Altria has had a good run. It is up 30% this year, compared to a 13% advance for the S&P 500. . The stock has changed hands over the past 52 weeks between $61.26 and $45.76 a share. It trades near $60 today.

Altria has solid earnings, an admirable balance sheet, and that almost unprecedented run of dividend payments. In the first quarter, Altria’s revenue fell 5% to $5.3 billion. However, adjusted EPS rose 6% to $1.23 a share. “Our highly profitable traditional tobacco businesses performed well in a challenging environment in the first quarter,” said Billy Gifford, Altria’s Chief Executive Officer. The company also reaffirmed solid guidance

At the end of 2024, Altria had $12.8 billion of cash and cash equivalents and long-term investments. It also raised its 2025 guidance. And it has raised its dividend every year for the last 20 years.

Almost all of Altria’s revenue comes from cigarettes. There is a theory that many investors shy away from buying Altria stock for that reason and that the dividend is an incentive.

Almost all of Altria’s cigarette sales are from the Marlboro brand. The brand was first marketed in 1924 and targeted toward women. In the 1950s, the target changed to men.

The stock market has become dangerous. President Trump is in the midst of negotiating imports with dozens of countries. In the case of several trading partners, the figure is high. Negations with China have remained in flux and those with Canada have collapsed

Tariffs are expected to raise the prices of many imported goods sold in America. This robs people of their purchasing power and, in turn, could trigger a recession. Investors need to find safe havens. Altria should be at the top of the list.

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.