Altria Group (NYSE:MO) has long been one of my top performing dividend-growth stocks. Besides posting some pretty robust total return, 25% year over year, Altria has also provided its shareholders with strong dividend growth.
An 8% dividend hike for "low growth" Altria
On August 25, 2016, Altria announced that it was increasing its quarterly dividend by 8.0%, or 4.5 cents, to $0.61 per share, compared to its previous level of $0.565 per share. Annualized, this new dividend equates to $2.44per share, good for a yield of slightly over 3.7%.
With this dividend increase, Altria continues its impressive streak of dividend growth, now at 47 consecutive years. Over the past 5 years, Altria's dividend has grown by nearly 50%, while the yield on cost for someone holding since then has risen to around 9%. In addition, Altria's total return during this period would be 216%-- a triple. Not bad for a "low growth" tobacco stock.
