Keep an eye on Altria Group (MO).
Not only does it carry a respectable yield of 8.35%, the company also just announced a $1 billion stock buyback program. The company also posted solid earnings, with EPS of $1.18 beating expectations for $1.17. And while sales did fall slightly to $6.11 billion, it still beat estimates for $5.15 billion.
Also, as noted by Barron’s: Altria said high inflation affected the behavior adult tobacco consumers in 2022. “As a result, our businesses experienced elevated volume declines, and we observed accelerated share growth in discount cigarettes,” the company said. “In 2023, Altria said it expects full-year adjusted EPS to be between $4.98 and $5.13, or growth of 3% to 6% on 2022’s $4.84 per share. That’s in line with the analysts’ consensus for $5.04 per share.”