Looking for High Dividend Yields? Try This Tobacco-Giant Stock.
With its popular Marlboro brand, Phillip Morris has generated gargantuan levels of profit over the last 100 years. But did you know that the brand split its domestic and international operations back in 2009? This left two publicly traded companies -- Altria Group (NYSE: MO) and Phillip Morris International (NYSE: PM) -- that investors could own for exposure to the brand.
Currently, investors are very pessimistic about Altria's future. Even though the company's operating profits climbed to record highs last year, investors have major concerns over cigarette volume declines in the United States, botched acquisitions, and looming competition from non-tobacco nicotine products.
The stock's price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) is well below the market average, and the company now sports one of the highest dividend yields in the world. This indicates that investors don't believe it's sustainable over the long term.
Source Fool.com