Altria Holds 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders; Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend of $0.94 Per Share
Altria Group, Inc. (Altria) (NYSE:MO) held our 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (Annual Meeting) today. During the Annual Meeting, Billy Gifford, Altria's Chief Executive Officer, provided brief remarks and addressed shareholder questions. A copy of the presentation and a replay of the webcast are available on www.altria.com.
Preliminary Voting Results
The preliminary voting results from our shareholders at the Annual Meeting were as follows:
- elected to a one-year term each of the 12 nominees for our Board of Directors (Board) named in our 2023 Proxy Statement;
- ratified the selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2023;
- approved, on an advisory basis, the compensation of our named executive officers (NEOs);
- approved, on an advisory basis, that future advisory votes on the compensation of our NEOs should be held annually; and
- did not approve two shareholder proposals.
Final voting results will be reported in a Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Regular Quarterly Dividend
Following the Annual Meeting, our Board declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, payable on July 10, 2023, to shareholders of record as of June 15, 2023. The ex-dividend date is June 14, 2023. Future dividend payments remain subject to the discretion of our Board.
Altria's Profile
We have a leading portfolio of tobacco products for U.S. tobacco consumers age 21+. Our Vision is to responsibly lead the transition of adult smokers to a smoke-free future (Vision). We are Moving Beyond Smoking™, leading the way in moving adult smokers away from cigarettes by taking action to transition millions to potentially less harmful choices - believing it is a substantial opportunity for adult tobacco consumers, our businesses and society.
Our wholly owned subsidiaries include leading manufacturers of both combustible and smoke-free products. In combustibles, we own Philip Morris USA Inc. (PM USA), the most profitable U.S. cigarette manufacturer, and John Middleton Co. (Middleton), a leading U.S. cigar manufacturer. Our smoke-free portfolio includes ownership of U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company LLC (USSTC), the leading global moist smokeless tobacco (MST) manufacturer, and Helix Innovations LLC (Helix), a leading manufacturer of oral nicotine pouches.
Additionally, we have a majority-owned joint venture, Horizon Innovations LLC (Horizon), for the U.S. marketing and commercialization of heated tobacco stick products and, through a separate agreement, we have the exclusive U.S. commercialization rights to the IQOS Tobacco Heating System® and Marlboro HeatSticks® through April 2024.
Our equity investments include Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (ABI), the world's largest brewer, and Cronos Group Inc. (Cronos), a leading Canadian cannabinoid company.
The brand portfolios of our tobacco operating companies include Marlboro®, Black & Mild®, Copenhagen®, Skoal® and on!®. Trademarks and service marks related to Altria referenced in this release are the property of Altria or our subsidiaries or are used with permission.
Learn more about Altria at www.altria.com and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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