Altria (MO) Dividend Increase History by Year

Altria (MO) dividend increase history runs longer than almost any other US large cap: by the company's own count, the August 2025 raise was its 60th increase in 56 years, and since the 2008 spin-off of Philip Morris International the raise has landed in late August nearly every year. The panels below rebuild that record from the dividend feed, one row per raise, with the announcement date, the ex-dividend date, the amount before and after, and the percentage step. Two drops in the nominal series, in 2007 and 2008, are spin-offs rather than cuts, and a section below walks through both.

How many times has Altria raised its dividend?

Counting from the first payment after the Philip Morris International spin-off, the feed records 21 increases. Each row is a quarter in which the declared amount was higher than the quarter before. The announcement date is the board declaration; the ex-dividend date is the first session on which a buyer no longer receives that payment.

WITH paid AS
(
    SELECT
        ex_dividend_date      AS ex_date,
        max(declaration_date) AS declared,
        max(cash_amount)      AS amount
    FROM global_markets.stocks_dividends
    WHERE ticker = 'MO'
      AND ex_dividend_date >= toDate('2008-04-01')
    GROUP BY ex_dividend_date
),
labelled AS
(
    SELECT
        ex_date,
        declared,
        amount,
        if(toInt64(amount * 1000) % 10 = 0,
           toString(toDecimal64(toFloat64(amount), 2)),
           toString(toDecimal64(toFloat64(amount), 3))) AS amount_label
    FROM paid
),
steps AS
(
    SELECT
        ex_date,
        declared,
        amount,
        amount_label,
        lagInFrame(amount)       OVER (ORDER BY ex_date ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW) AS prior,
        lagInFrame(amount_label) OVER (ORDER BY ex_date ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW) AS prior_label
    FROM labelled
)
SELECT
    toString(ex_date)                                                          AS ex_dividend_date,
    if(declared > toDate('2000-01-01'),
       concat(formatDateTime(declared, '%b'), ' ', toString(toDayOfMonth(declared)), ', ', toString(toYear(declared))),
       'n/a')                                                                  AS announced,
    concat(formatDateTime(ex_date, '%b'), ' ', toString(toDayOfMonth(ex_date)), ', ', toString(toYear(ex_date))) AS first_ex,
    concat('$', prior_label, ' to $', amount_label)                            AS step,
    round(toFloat64(prior), 3)                                                 AS prior_quarterly,
    round(toFloat64(amount), 3)                                                AS new_quarterly,
    round(100 * (toFloat64(amount) - toFloat64(prior)) / toFloat64(prior), 1)  AS raise_pct
FROM steps
WHERE prior > 0
  AND amount > prior
ORDER BY ex_date

The post-spin-off series opens with a raise announced n/a, which took the quarterly payment from $0.28 to $0.32, a 10.3% step. The most recent row was announced Aug 27, 2026 and took it from $1.06 to $1.11, a 4.7% step. Where a year carries two rows, the company raised twice, once in the spring and again in August. The raise_pct column is the number most income investors watch: it is the growth rate of the payment itself, independent of what the share price did over the same period. For how announcement timing works across companies generally, see when companies announce dividend raises.

Why does the nominal dividend series reset in 2007 and 2008?

Altria spun off Kraft Foods in March 2007 and Philip Morris International in March 2008. In a spin-off, shareholders receive shares of the new company, and the parent's dividend is reset to the portion supported by the business it keeps. The Altria line steps down on each date while the spun-off company begins paying its own dividend, and a holder who kept all of the positions kept receiving all of the streams.

SELECT
    toString(ex_dividend_date)                        AS ex_date,
    round(toFloat64(max(cash_amount)), 3)             AS quarterly_dividend,
    if(toInt64(max(cash_amount) * 1000) % 10 = 0,
       toString(toDecimal64(toFloat64(max(cash_amount)), 2)),
       toString(toDecimal64(toFloat64(max(cash_amount)), 3))) AS amount_label
FROM global_markets.stocks_dividends
WHERE ticker = 'MO'
  AND ex_dividend_date >= toDate('2006-01-01')
  AND ex_dividend_date <  toDate('2010-01-01')
GROUP BY ex_dividend_date
ORDER BY ex_dividend_date

The series opens 2006 at $0.8 a quarter and ends 2009 at $0.34. The two steps down in between coincide with the spin-off dates. Neither is a cut in the sense of a board reducing what a business could pay; the business itself was divided. Histories that quote Altria's streak, including the company's own, treat the spin-off years as increases on a comparable basis. Compare the shape with Verizon's dividend increase history, a series with no spin-off resets.

When does Altria announce its dividend raise?

Altria's board typically meets in the second half of August, and the raise is announced the same week. The new rate then goes ex-dividend in mid-September and pays in early October. The panel below counts, for Altria and for Philip Morris International, which month each company's raise announcements fall in.

WITH paid AS
(
    SELECT
        ticker,
        ex_dividend_date      AS ex_date,
        max(declaration_date) AS declared,
        max(cash_amount)      AS amount
    FROM global_markets.stocks_dividends
    WHERE ticker IN ('MO', 'PM')
      AND ex_dividend_date >= toDate('2008-04-01')
    GROUP BY ticker, ex_dividend_date
),
steps AS
(
    SELECT
        ticker,
        declared,
        amount,
        lagInFrame(amount) OVER (PARTITION BY ticker ORDER BY ex_date ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW) AS prior
    FROM paid
),
by_month AS
(
    SELECT
        ticker,
        monthName(declared) AS announced_in,
        count()             AS raises
    FROM steps
    WHERE prior > 0
      AND amount > prior
      AND declared > toDate('2000-01-01')
    GROUP BY ticker, announced_in
)
SELECT
    ticker,
    argMax(announced_in, raises)               AS busiest_month,
    max(raises)                                AS raises_in_busiest_month,
    sum(raises)                                AS raises_since_2008,
    round(100 * max(raises) / sum(raises), 1)  AS share_pct
FROM by_month
GROUP BY ticker
ORDER BY ticker

12 of Altria's 14 post-spin-off raises were announced in August, 85.7% of them. Philip Morris International, the 2008 spin-off, keeps a calendar of its own: its busiest announcement month is September, holding 92.3% of its 13 raises over the same span. The two companies share a corporate ancestor and a product category, and their announcements arrive a few weeks apart each year. The PMI dividend page tracks that stream separately.

The latest Altria dividend raise on file

This block refreshes with the feed. The newest increase recorded was announced Aug 27, 2026: the quarterly dividend moved from $1.06 to $1.11, a 4.7% increase, with the new rate first going ex-dividend on Sep 15, 2026. The feed picks up a declaration within a day or two of the press release, so in the last week of August the row can lag the announcement briefly. Current yield and the next ex-date live on the Altria dividend page.

What record and payment dates are left this year?

Altria pays four times a year. The table lists every payment with a pay date in the current calendar year, marks each one paid or upcoming as of today, and carries the record date: the date a holder must be on the register to receive the cash. Under T+1 settlement the ex-dividend date and the record date fall on the same day, since a purchase on the record date settles the next day, too late to be on the register.

SELECT
    toString(ex_dividend_date)                                    AS ex_date,
    concat(formatDateTime(max(record_date), '%b'), ' ', toString(toDayOfMonth(max(record_date))), ', ', toString(toYear(max(record_date)))) AS record_on,
    concat(formatDateTime(max(pay_date), '%b'), ' ', toString(toDayOfMonth(max(pay_date))), ', ', toString(toYear(max(pay_date))))          AS paid_on,
    round(toFloat64(max(cash_amount)), 3)                         AS quarterly_dividend,
    if(toInt64(max(cash_amount) * 1000) % 10 = 0,
       toString(toDecimal64(toFloat64(max(cash_amount)), 2)),
       toString(toDecimal64(toFloat64(max(cash_amount)), 3)))     AS amount_label,
    if(max(pay_date) >= today(), 'upcoming', 'paid')              AS status
FROM global_markets.stocks_dividends
WHERE ticker = 'MO'
  AND toYear(pay_date) = toYear(today())
GROUP BY ex_dividend_date
ORDER BY ex_dividend_date

The table holds 4 payments for the current year. The last of them pays on Oct 9, 2026 to holders of record on Sep 15, 2026, at $1.11 a share, and it is marked upcoming as of today. Rows marked upcoming are the record and payment dates still ahead.

How reliable is Altria's dividend?

Start with the policy in the company's own words. Altria describes a progressive dividend goal targeting mid-single-digit growth in dividends per share each year, language it adopted alongside the August 2021 raise to replace the earlier target of paying out about 80% of adjusted diluted earnings per share. Adjusted EPS is a company-defined figure that does not appear as a line item in standardized filings, and Altria's GAAP earnings have swung widely with non-cash items in recent years, which makes an EPS-based dividend payout ratio noisy for this name. Dividends are paid in cash, and the cleaner test is cash flow: operating cash flow less capital spending, divided by the dividends actually paid.

SELECT
    fiscal_year_label,
    round(ocf / 1e9, 2)             AS operating_cash_flow_bn,
    round((ocf - capex) / 1e9, 2)   AS free_cash_flow_bn,
    round(divs / 1e9, 2)            AS dividends_paid_bn,
    round((ocf - capex) / divs, 2)  AS fcf_coverage_ratio
FROM
(
    SELECT
        toString(fiscal_year)                                                   AS fiscal_year_label,
        toFloat64(ifNull(any(net_cash_from_operating_activities), 0))           AS ocf,
        abs(toFloat64(ifNull(any(purchase_of_property_plant_and_equipment), 0))) AS capex,
        abs(toFloat64(ifNull(any(dividends), 0)))                               AS divs
    FROM global_markets.stocks_cash_flow_statements
    WHERE has(tickers, 'MO')
      AND timeframe = 'annual'
      AND toInt32OrZero(toString(fiscal_year)) >= 2020
    GROUP BY fiscal_year_label
    HAVING divs > 0
       AND ocf > 0
)
ORDER BY fiscal_year_label

For fiscal 2025, operating cash flow of $9.29 billion less capital spending left $9.07 billion of free cash flow against $6.96 billion of dividends paid, a coverage ratio of 1.3x. In fiscal 2020, the earliest year shown, the ratio was 1.3x. A ratio above 1.0x means the year's dividend was paid out of cash the business generated rather than from borrowing or asset sales. The mechanics of that test, and where it breaks down, are covered in dividend safety and cash-flow coverage.

The streak is the other check. By the company's count in its August 2025 release, that raise was the 60th increase in 56 years, a record that places Altria among the Dividend Kings, the informal group of companies with at least 50 consecutive years of annual increases. The two figures differ since several years carried two raises. A Dividend King label describes the past; the cash-flow panel above is the number to re-check each year.

FAQ

How many consecutive years has Altria raised its dividend?

By the company's count, the August 2025 increase was its 60th in 56 years, with several years carrying two raises. The panel at the top of this page lists every raise since the 2008 spin-off with its announcement date and percentage.

When does Altria usually announce its dividend increase?

In late August. 85.7% of Altria's post-2008 raises were declared in August, with the higher rate going ex-dividend in mid-September and paying in early October. The latest-raise block above refreshes as each new declaration reaches the feed.

Did Altria cut its dividend in 2007 or 2008?

No. The quarterly amount stepped down after the Kraft spin-off in March 2007 and the Philip Morris International spin-off in March 2008. In each case shareholders received shares of the new company, which began paying its own dividend, and the Altria payment was reset to the retained business rather than reduced by the board.

What is Altria's dividend payout target?

Altria's stated progressive dividend goal targets mid-single-digit annual growth in dividends per share. Before 2021 the company targeted a payout of about 80% of adjusted diluted earnings per share. Free-cash-flow coverage, shown above, is the check that does not depend on adjusted figures.

Is Altria a Dividend King?

Yes. A Dividend King is a company with at least 50 consecutive years of dividend increases, and Altria's streak clears that bar by the company's count. The label describes the past record only.

Every panel above carries its SQL underneath; expand any one to see how the row was computed. To rebuild the same table for another ticker, or to check a raise the day it prints, ask on the Strasmore terminal.