Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, tobacco giant Altria (MO +0.11%) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Altria and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Altria facts
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Headquarters (founded) |
Richmond, Va. (1919) |
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Market Cap |
$71.3 billion |
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Industry |
Tobacco |
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Trailing-12-Month Revenue |
$17.5 billion |
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Management |
Chairman/CEO Martin Barrington President/COO David Beran |
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Return on Capital (average, past 3 years) |
25.7% |
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Cash/Debt |
$3.8 billion/$13.9 billion |
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Dividend Yield |
4.9% |
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Competitors |
Altadis Lorillard Reynolds American |
Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 96% of the 8,968 members who have rated Altria believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.
Just last week, one of those Fools, TMFInnovator, succinctly summed up the Altria bull case for our community:
- Incredibly strong brand. Marlboro has been around since the 1920's and is the best selling cigarette brand in the world.
-Stickiness. Even though cigarettes are commodities, consumers are extremely brand loyal and almost always buy the same type.
-Pricing Power. Even though Altria is restricted to the US (Philip Morris International has the international rights) where cigarette volumes have been in constant decline, they still manage to raise revenues every year. How: pricing power. ...
Altria pays a 5% dividend, has strong brand and pricing power, and is largely immune to technological disruption. All of these advantages help explain why it has been THE BEST performing stock of the past fifty years.
