Altria Group, Inc. (MO)

btown819 (71.34) Submitted: 4/08/07 9:52 PM : Start Price: $17.46 MO Score: 27.26

Not as compelling of a buy as before the Kraft spin-off, but still a good stock to hold. The tobacco/cigarette business and large industry presence allows them to pass along price increases to retain margins and profitability. The litigation matters from Tobacco related lawsuits are largely behind them.

Currently, the dividend yield [ttm] is almost 5%, which means it is competing directly with current yields of 10 year T bonds. This means that it is unlikely the price will go down because even more conservative investors would keep the current share price afloat at the current price level of $70 per share just for the dividend alone.

Any potential benefit due to the rumored break up of domestic and international units would only be an additional bonus. This is one of those stable slow growers... except it's actually taking a little sprint as of late!

Report this Post Replies: 0 | Reply